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IN THE BRUSH; 

OR, 

OLD-TIME SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS LIFE 
IN THE SOUTHWEST. 



BY _ 

REV. HAMILTON Wi PIERSON, D. D., I 

EX-PRESIDENT OF CUMBERLAND COLLEGE, KENTUCKY ; AUTHOR OP " JEFFERS05? j 

AT MONTICELLO"; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE NEW \ 

YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ETC. i 



Will/ ILLUSTRATIONS BY W. L. SHEPPARD. 



^cOFYi 



NEW YORK: 
B. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

], 3, AND 5 BOND STEEET. 

1881. 



COPTEIGHT BY 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

1881. 









,4,^' 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGK 

I. — Why I EELATE MY EXPERIENCES m THE SOUTH- 
WEST. Introductory . . . .1 
II. — My outfit for my life in the Brush . . 12 
III. — The itinerant pioneer preacher's faithful horse . 85 
IV. — Old-time hospitality in the Southwest . 47 
V. — Old-time basket-meetings in the Brush . . 60 
VI. — The baptism of a Scotcpi baby in the wilds of 

THE Southwest ..... 82 

VII. — Barbecues, and a barbecue wedding-feast in 

the Southwest . . . . .90 

VIII. — The old, old book, and its story in the wilds 

of the Southwest .... 103 

IX. — Candid ating; or, old-time methods and humors 

of office-seeking in the Southwest . .130 

X. — Some strange experiences with a candidate in 

THE Brush ..... 156 

XI. — Experiences with old-time Methodist circuit- 
riders in the Southwest . . . .171 



iv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XII. — Heeoio Christian workees in the Southwest 193 

XIII. — Strange people I have met in the Southwest . 204 

XIY. — Old-time illiterate preachers in the Brush 238 

XV. — " Ortonville " ; or, the universal power of sa- 
cred song ...... 278 

XVI. — Work accomplished in the Southwest . 294 



IN THE BRUSH. 



CHAPTER I. 

WHY I RELATE MY EXPERIENCES IN THE SOUTHWEST. ^IN- 
TRODUCTORY. 

On a visit to New York, many years ago, after tlie 
first few montlis of my ministerial labors in tlie wilds 
of the Southwest, I met a warm personal friend, a 
genial, generous, noble Christian woman, who at once 
said to me : 

"And so you are a Western missionary. Well, do 
tell me if anything strange or funny ever did happen 
to a missionary. Mother has taken the home-mission- 
ary papers ever since I was a child, and I always read 
them ; and I often wonder if anything strange or fun- 
ny did^wr happen to a Western missionary." 

I had recently spent three happy years in the 
Union Theological Seminary in that city, and had 
come back to attend the heart-stirring anniversaries, 
held in those days in the old Broadway Tabernacle, 
and to meet again the many friends who had followed 



2 IN THE BRUSH. 

me in my labors with their kind wishes and their 
prayers. Though nearly thirty years have passed since 
I received that greeting, I have never forgotten, and 
have very often recalled it. And I have as often 
thought that it was most natural that the churches 
and people at large who send forth and sustain the 
heroic laborers who are toiling in the varied depart- 
ments of Christian effort in our newer States and Ter- 
ritories, should desire a much fuller account of their 
daily lives and lat)ors. As many of them travel ex- 
tensively, and see pioneer border-life in all its aspects 
and phases, I have thought it most natural and rea- 
sonable that the people should desire to know more of 
their adventures ; more of their contact with the rough, 
whole-souled people with whom they so often meet 
and mingle ; more of that strange compound of energy, 
recklessness, and daring, the hardy hosts who erect 
their log-cabins and fell the forests in the van of our 
American civilization, in its triumphant westward 
march. Only one day in seven is set apart as sacred 
time, and only a few hours of that day are devoted 
to what are generally regarded as spiritual duties. A 
description of these duties alone, whether performed 
on Sabbath-days or week-days, is a very inadequate 
description of missionary life as a w^liole. In order to 
perform these duties, a man must eat and drink, take 
care of his body, mingle with the world, and meet all 
his responsibilities as a man and a citizen. 



EXPERIENCE. 3 

In the pages that follow it will be my purpose to 
present a portraiture of ministerial life in the wilds 
of the Southwest, in all its aspects and phases, exactly 
as I found it. I shall attempt to portray week-day 
life as well as Sunday life. I shall describe scenes of 
wonderful and thrilling religious interest, and the most 
common and homely incidents of every-day life, and, 
as far as possible, give an idea of my life as a whole. 
I shall attempt to describe the politicians, preachers, 
and people ; the country in which they live, their 
manners and customs, their barbecues, basket-meetings, 
and weddings, and all the peculiarities of their open, 
free, and genial home-life in its social, political, and 
religious aspects and relations. In this I shall be suc- 
cessful only so far as I succeed in perfectly describ- 
ing their life and my own during the many years that 
I mingled with them. 

My lady friend and questioner, to whom I have 
referred, was slightly mistaken in calling me a "mis- 
sionary." I was not one in name. At the time of 
my graduation from the Theological Seminary, I was 
under appointment as a missionary of the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to West 
Africa ; but haemorrhages from my lungs prevented 
my entrance upon that work. 

After extended travels by sea and land for nearly 
^YQ years, I had so far recovered my voice as to be 
able to preach, and was very anxious to be about my 



4 IN THE BRUSH. 

chosen life-work. But my physicians — Dr. Gurdon 
Buck, Dr. Alfred C. Post, and Dr. John H. Swett, of 
the University Medical College — as kind as they were 
distinguished and skillful, told me that I would never 
be able to perform the duties of a settled pastor; that 
the study, labor, and care of such a life would com- 
pletely break down my health in a very few months. 
They told me that I must engage in some labor that 
would give me a large amount of exercise in the oj^en 
air; and that if it involved horseback-riding it would 
be all the better for my health, and probably give 
me more years in which to labor. I accordingly ac- 
cepted an ageiicy from the American Bible Society, 
which involved the exploration on horseback of the 
wild regions in the Southwest described in this vol- 
ume. In addition to very extended travels by steam- 
boat up and down many of the larger and smaller 
Southwestern and Southern rivers, I have ridden a 
great many thousand miles on horseback — I have no 
means of telling how many. For a long time I rode 
my horse several thousands of miles yearly. Bishop 
Kavenaugh, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
in introducing me, as an agent of the American 
Bible Society, to a Southwestern conference over which 
he was presiding, told tliem that, " although a Presby- 
terian," I had " out-itinerated the Itineracy itself." 

I spent a night with the Governor of a South- 
western State, at the house of his sister, who was the 



INTRODUCTORY. 5 

wife of an Episcopal clergyman. We lodged in the 
same room, occupying separate beds, as was very com- 
mon in that region. The Governor was genial and 
social, and we conversed until long after midnight. We 
talked of the hills, valleys, and mountains, of families 
and communities, of the customs, manners, and pecu- 
liarities of different classes of people, over a very wide 
portion of the State. As I was about to leave in the 
morning, the Governor said to me : 

" Sir, you know more about this State^ and more 
jpeople in it, than any man I ever saw." 

I replied : " I am surprised. Governor, to hear you 
make that statement. I know that politicians can- 
vass the State most thoroughly ; that you are expected 
to make speeches in every county, and in as many 
neighborhoods as possible ; and that you try to shake 
hands with as many as you can of those that you ex- 
pect and wish to vote for you. As you were born 
and educated in the State, and have canvassed it so 
thoroughly and successfully, I supposed that you knew 
a great deal more about it, and a great many more 
people in it, than I do." 

"I do not," he replied, very positively, "and I 
never saw a man in my life who did." 

I state these facts as my reason and justification for 
writing this book ; that my readers may understand 
that I am not a novice in regard to the things whereof 
I write ; that I know whereof I afiirm. Indeed, I will 



6 /iV^ TEE BRUSH. 

tell them confidentially that I have obtained a " degree," 
one not so easily acquired as some others, and more 
honored in the wilds of the country. It is " B. B.," 
and means Brush-Breaker. The exposition of the full 
meaning of this *' degree " will explain the origin and 
meaning of my title to this book. 

In attending a conference, presbytery, association, 
or other ecclesiastical meeting in the wilds of the coun- 
try, as the old veteran and other preachers were pointed 
out to me by some friend, he would say : 

"That is Father A . He is an old Brush- 
Breaker'^'' — and all the younger men would press for- 
ward to shake his hand and do him honor ; or, " That 

is Brother B . He has broken a right smart chance 

of brush " ; or, " That is young Brother C , won- 
derfully self-satisfied and conceited, as you see. The 
sisters have flattered him so much that he has got the 
'hig head'' badly. He will be sent to Brush Col- 
lege, to break brush a year or two, and will come back 
humbled, and will make a laborious and useful man " ; 
or, " That is our devoted and beloved young Brother 

D . His soul is all on fire with love for his Master, 

and he will thank God for the privilege of going any- 
where in the Brush to preach and sing of Jesus and 
his salvation." 

This use of the word Brush enters largely into 
the figures of speech of the people of the Southwest. 
On one occasion I heard a Methodist bishop preach on 



INTRODUCTORY. 7 

a Sabbath morning to a very large congregation, com- 
posed of tlie Conference, the people of the village, and 
the visitors in attendance. During the first half of his 
sermon, which was extemporaneous, he did not preach 
with his accustomed clearness and power. His thoughts 
were evidently very much confused, and it was rather 
painful than otherwise to witness his struggle to get the 
mastery of his mind and subject. But he accomplished 
this at length, and closed his sermon with great power 
and effect. In returning from church, a young circuit- 
rider said to me: 

*' Didn't you think the Bishop got badly hrushed 
in the first part of his sermon? I sometimes get so 
brushed in my sermons that I think I will never try 
to preach again. It's a comfort to a beginner to know 
that an old preacher sometimes gets brushed." 

Figurative language of this kind abounded among 
the people of the Southwest, and was very expressive. 
These provincialisms had usually grown out of the 
peculiar life and habits of the people. Many of them 
seem to have originated in the perils of early flat-boat 
navigation — when they were accustomed to float down- 
stream by daylight, and tie up to some stump or tree 
for the night ! Woe betide the cargo, boat, and crew, 
if that to which they had "made fast" failed tliem in 
the darkness of the night ! Hence, as I suppose, this 
provincialism. 

If I made inquiries in regard to the character of a 



8 IN THE BRUSH. 

man who had been recommended to me for a Bible 
distributor, I was not told that he w\as a reliable or an 
unreliable man, but, " He'll do to tie to," or " He won't 
do to tie to " ; and if the case was particularly bad, 
" He won't do to tie to in a calm, let alone a storm." 
As there were so many perils in this kind of naviga- 
tion, those were regarded as extremely fortunate who 
reached their destination in safety, and could send back 
word that they had made the trip ; hence, *' to make 
the trip" was a universal synonym for success. And 
so, when a novice attempted to make a speech, preach a 
sermon, address a jury, or engage in any kind of busi- 
ness, the people predicted his success or failure by say- 
ing, "He'll make the trip," or "He won't make the 
trip." They never said of a young man, or an old 
widower, that he was addressing or courting a lady, but, 
" He is setting to her," a figure of speech derived from 
bird-hunting with setter-dogs, as I suppose. When 
such a suit had been unsuccessful, they did not say the 
lady rejected or "mittened" her suitor, but, "She 
kicked him." The first time I ever heard that figure 
used was at a social gathering in Richmond, Yirginia, 
in 1843, where the belle of the evening was a Miss 
Burfoot. After being introduced to her by a friend, 
he told me confidentially that she had recently " kicked " 
Mr. H , a gentleman present, to whom he had al- 
ready introduced me. To be "kicked" by a Bur-foot 
seemed to me a more than usually striking figure. 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

When many persons were striving for tlie same object, 
or where there were rival aspirants for the heart and 
hand of the same lady, they said of the successful one, 
*' The tallest pole takes the persimmon." 

I was once present at an ecclesiastical meeting in 
the Brush, where motions of different kinds were piled 
upon each other, until the greatest confusion prevailed 
as to the state of the question before the body, and 
the moderator was aj)pealed to to give his decision in 
the matter. I did not fully comprehend his decision, 
but it was clear and satisfactory to the body over which 
he was presiding, all of whom, like himself, were old 
and experienced hunters. Arising to his feet, as be- 
came a presiding officer thus appealed to, and lifting 
his tall, lank form until his head was among the rafters 
of the low log schoolhouse, he hesitated a moment, 
and then said, " Brethren, my decision is that you are 
all ahead of the hounds." 

These are but specimens of the figurative language 
— the provincialisms — that abound among the people 
of the Southwest. 

I do not, therefore, in the pages that follow, speak 
of my travels in the "wilderness" or "forests" or 
" hills " or " mountains " of the Southwest, but adopt 
a more comprehensive term, universally prevalent in 
the regions explored, and describe some of my experi- 
ences in the Brush. 

Though I commenced my labors in the South as 



IQ IN THE BE VSR. 

a general agent and superintendent of the colpor- 
teur operations of the American Tract Society in 1843 
— ten years before my first visit to the Southwest — 
though I became acquainted with its ho7ne-life, as that 
life could only be learned, by such extended horse- 
back travels, and such religious labors, prosecuted with 
all the energy and all the enthusiasm of early vigorous 
manhood, I shall devote this volume to descriptions of 
home-life in the Southwest. My reasons for this will 
be obvious and approved at a glance. Very little that 
would be new can now be written of the old-time home- 
life in the South. The fascinating and beautiful de- 
scriptions of Southern social life given us in the let- 
ters of Hon. William Wirt, the distinguished Attorney- 
General of the United States, in his " British Spy" ; the 
full and minute biographies of Washington, Jefferson, 
Patrick Henry, and others, so exhaustive of every feat- 
ure of this life; with the matchless descriptions of 
the inimitable Thackeray, and other later writers, leave 
very little to be said in illustration of this theme. But 
the true, the real old-time social, political, and religious 
home-life of the people of the Southwest is almost 
unknown to the great mass of the American people. 
Comparatively little has been written which is the re- 
sult of extended personal contact wath, and intimate 
personal knowledge of, the people. They have been 
largely the subjects of exaggeration and caricature. 
In this field I have garnered many rich and golden 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

sheaves, where no other reaper had ever thrust in the 
sickle. Here I have drawn word-pictures of many 
scenes in the social life of a generation, and a state 
of civilization, rapidly passing away, never to reappear, 
that otherwise would have had no memorial only 
as perpetuated in the traditions of the people. I 
will only add that I am indebted to no library, to no 
book, not even to a newspaper, for a single fact pre- 
sented in this volume. They were all gathered inci- 
dentally while laboriously engaged in the duties of my 
profession, as a general agent of the American Bible 
Society, and while traveling for years in the interests 
of the college over which I was called to preside. They 
all relate to the ante-helium period in the history of 
our country. 



CHAPTER 11. 

MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH. 

Having received mj commission as an agent for 
the American Bible Society, and completed my prepara- 
tions for entering upon my work as far as I could do 
so in New York, I left that city for one of the im- 
portant cities of the Southwest, which was to be my 
headquarters. I knew at the outset that I could not 
reach the wild regions I was to explore by railroad, 
steamboat, stage, or even with my own j)rivate convey- 
ance ; I knew that I could climb hills and mountains, 
follow blind bridle-paths, ford rivers and swollen 
streams, only on horseback. I had several years be- 
fore had some two years' experience in constant horse- 
back travel in labors similar to those I was now enter- 
ing upon, as superintendent of the colporteur opera- 
tions of the American Tract Society in Virginia. There 
I had floundered in the marshes and swamps of " Tide- 
water," and been lost amid the rugged rocks and dense 
forests high up the sides and in the loftiest summits of 
the Blue Ridge and other mountains. I knew that I 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN TEE BRUSH. 13 

must have a horse. This was indispensable. More than 
that, I wanted a good horse, a horse broken expressly 
for the saddle. To be churned for years — bump, 
bump, bump — upon a hard-trotting horse, that was 
out of the question with me. I had but a small stock 
of health and physical strength at best, and none to 
spare in that way. My old friend Rev. Dr. Sprole, 
then of Washington, D. C, afterward of "VYest Point, 
New York, and now of Detroit, Michigan, used to 
tell me, in Washington, that "Brother Leete," one of 
my co-workers in the circulation of the publications of 
the American Tract Society, "was one of the most 
self-denying Christians he had ever seen — in that he 
had patience to drive such a miserable old horse in 
transporting his books over the hills and mountains of 
Pennsylvania," where he had known him. But I was 
not anxious to illustrate that particular type of piety. 
I did not care to let my "light so shine." I wanted 
not only a good saddle-horse, but a faithful, reliable 
animal. I wanted one that I could hitch to the 
limb of a tree, in the midst of scores or hundreds of 
other horses, and leave there without any concern, while 
I preached in a log meeting-house, or at a "stand" 
erected in a grove at some cross-roads, or at a camp- 
meeting, or wherever else I should be able to meet and 
address the people. I wanted a hardy horse, that 
could live on the coarsest food, and stand during the 
coldest nights in log stables that afforded but a little 



14 /A" THE BRUSH. 

more protection from the wind and cold than a rail 
fence. I wanted an easy-going, fleet horse, that would 
take me, without great personal fatigue or needless 
waste of time, over a wide extent of country. I 
wanted a horse that would scare at nothing — that, 
as I had opportunity, I could lead up a plank or 
two, on board a noisy stern-wheel or other Western 
steamer, along the banks of the rivers, across wharf- 
boats, or wherever I might wish to embark for a 
hundred miles or more to save a few days of horse- 
back travel. 

The "qualities" that I looked for in a horse were 
numerous and rare. I was so fortunate as to find one 
that possessed all that I have enumerated and many 
more. Was I not fortunate ? Was I wrong in regard- 
ing my good fortune as a special providence? But I 
did not easily find this treasure. It was after a long 
search and many failures. Unable to find such a horse 
as I was willing to purchase at once, I determined to 
enter upon my work and get along for a time as best 
I could. 

I therefore took stage for a point about fifty miles 
from headquarters, where, after a conference with the 
officers of the County Bible Society, I procured a 
horse for several days in order to plunge into the 
Brush, make a circuit of the county, and preach at a 
number of places in accordance with a programme that 
their familiarity with the country enabled them to 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN TUB BRUSH. 15 

make out for me. Thej arranged to send my appoint- 
ments ahead to all these points but one, where I was 
to preach the next day, which was the Sabbath. 

I will here state that the great object of my mis- 
sion to the Brush was to effect a thorough exploration 
of the field assigned to me, and, either by sale or gift, 
supply every family with a copy of the Bible, except 
such as positively declined to receive it. To accom- 
plish this, I wished to gain personal knowledge of 
each county, to preach at as many points as possible, 
in order to give information in regard to the character 
and operations of the American Bible Society and the 
work to be done, collect as much money as possible 
to meet the expenses of this work, find and employ 
suitable men to canvass the counties and visit with- 
out fail every family, and then order a supply of Bi- 
bles and Testaments from the Society's house in New 
York, give them their instructions, and set them at 
work. Such was my mission. 

Saturday, after dinner, I mounted my horse for a 
ride of thirteen miles to a small county-seat village 
where I was to spend the Sabbath. The country was 
rough and broken, with light, sandy soil, sparsely cov- 
ered Math small, scrubby oak-trees, called " black-jacks," 
and the region of country was known as the " Barrens." 
It was barren enough. The houses were mostly poor 
and comfortless, the barns small log structures, with 
no stables, sheds, or covering of any kind for the cat- 



10 IN THE BRUSH. 

tie. They were poor and scrawny, and their backs 
described a section of a semicircle as they drew them- 
selves into as much of a heap as possible — their only 
protection against the bleak February winds. The 
swine were of the original " root-hog-or-die " variety, 
their long, well-developed snouts being their most 
prominent feature. Occasionally black, dirty, ragged 
slaves — ^' uncles," " aunties," and their children — re- 
vealed the whites of their eyes and their shining ivory 
as they stared earnestly at the rare sight of a passing 
stranger. Ko one, with the kindest heart and the 
most amiable disposition, would be able to pronounce 
the country attractive or the ride a pleasant one. On 
arriving at the village, I rode to a very plain house to 
which I had been directed, and received a most warm 
and cordial welcome. Large pine-knots were soon blaz- 
ing and roaring in the ample fireplace to relieve me of 
the most wretchedly disagreeable of all sensations of 
cold — those of a damp, clammy, chilly winter day in the 
Southwest. As soon as it could possibly be prepared, 
I was seated with the family at a bountiful supper. 
The aroma of the richest coffee was afloat in the air, 
and the rarest of fried chicken and hot corn-bread 
were smoking before me, flanked with a superabun- 
dance of other dishes, that showed the perfect country 
housekeeper. 

My host and hostess were Presbyterians, and this 
was the reception they gladly gave to any minister 



MY OUTFIT FOE MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH. 17 

who visited them in their seclusion, and preached for 
their little church. The bell was rung, and I preached 
that (Saturday) night to a very small audience who as- 
sembled at this brief notice. The church stood within 
a very few rods of the spot where Abraham Lincoln 
was born. 

On Sabbath morning a somewhat larger congrega- 
tion assembled from the village and country around, 
including some from the homes I had passed the day 
before, and I made a full exposition of the character 
and operations of the American Bible Society, ex- 
plained the work about to be undertaken in their own 
county, and made as urgent and eloquent an appeal 
as I was able to, for funds to supply their own poor 
with the Bible, and meet the expenses of this benevo- 
lent and Christian work. To adopt the language uni- 
versal in all this region, they " lifted a collection " for 
me which amounted to six dollars and eighty-five cents. 
At 3 p. M. I heard a sermon preached by the clergyman, 
my kind friend and host at the other county-seat, 
who, according to arrangement, came over to spend 
the Sabbath with me, and fill a regular appointment. 
At night I preached for them again. Altogether it 
was to me a very pleasant day. 

Monday morning I rode back to the county-seat. 
There was a hard rain-storm, and I got very wet. 
Tuesday morning I started on a preaching tour of 
several days, to fulfill the appointments that had been 



18 I^ THE BRUSH. 

made for me. I traveled several miles to see an old 
man who had been recommended for a colporteur to 
canvass the county ; was pleased with him, and he 
Y/as afterward employed. After dinner he piloted me 
through rough, broken barrens, such as I have already 
described, to the place where. I was to preach that 
night. We reached there, but my " appointment " had 
not. I did not wonder it had lost its way. I lost 
mine a good many times that week. However, we 
learned that the next day was the regular appointment 
for the Methodist preacher who rode that circuit, and 
I would then have an opportunity to address the peo- 
ple. We spent the night very comfortably with 

Brother H , to whom I had been directed, who 

belonged to the class of farmers or planters known 
among these people as " not rich, but good livers." 
In other portions of the country he w^ould have been 
spoken of as a man " in comfortable circumstances." 
Wednesday morning we rode to a small Methodist 
chapel bearing the name of my host. His house had 
for years been the home where laborious and self- 
denying itinerant preachers, often hungry, wet, and 
weary, had found most welcome and needed refresh- 
ment and rest. A kind Providence has dotted the 
wilds of the country with many such hospitable homes 
— I have often found them and enjoyed their cheer — 
whose owners, more rich in generous, noble impulses 
than in worldly goods, have thus laid uj) treasures in 



3IY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IK THE BRUSH. 19 

heaven, the exceeding riches and abundance of which 
they will only fully comprehend and enjoy when they 
hear the approving — " Inasmuch as ye have done it 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me." On arriving at the chapel, which 
was a small, unplastered frame building, I was intro- 
duced by my host to Brother M , the " j)reacher 

in charge," and received from him an old itinerant's 
cordial shake of the hand and welcome to his circuit. 
After a few moments' conversation he thrust his arm 
into mine, as though we had been acquainted for years, 
and we strolled off among the black-jacks to await the 
arrival of the congregation. 

"What church do you belong to, Brother P ?" 

said he. 

" I am a Presbyterian, sir," I responded. 

" I am glad to hear it, glad to hear it," said he. 

"Brother Y , the last agent of the Bible Society, 

was a Methodist, and we've had Methodist agents a 
good while. I am glad there is a change. I heard 
there would be, at Conference. All our brethren will 
be glad to see and welcome you." 

As Brother M was the first real itinerant that 

I met on his circuit deep in the Brush, I will present 
him a little more fully to my readers. He wore on 
his head, drawn well down over his ears and eyes, a 
cheap cloth cap, badly soiled and faded. I do not now 
recall the color of his coat. I remember that it was of 



20 I^ THE BRUSH. 

coarse material and ragged, with a particularly large 
rent under one of the armholes. His pantaloons were 
genuine butternut-colored jeans. I have no doubt that 
the cloth was the gift of some good sister, woven in 
her own loom, and all that slie was able to give in 
making up his scanty salary. The most of the audi- 
ence, both men and women, were clothed in the same 
home-made material. For myself, I was dressed in 
all respects as I had been the last time I had preached 
in New York. I did not like the contrast between 
myself and the congregation ; and on my return to the 
city 1 laid aside my entire black suit, and procured 
a second-hand snuff-colored overcoat, costing eight dol- 
lars, jean pantaloons, and a soft hat, in which I felt 
much more at ease on my next return to the Brush. 
To anticipate a little, I will say that in my desire to 
carry out the Pauline example in becoming all things 
to all men, I went a little too far; for I wore my 
Brush suit to Conference, where I met this same 
preacher, and scores of his brethren with whom I 
had become acquainted, dressed in black, and present- 
ing a contrast quite to my disadvantage. I had, how- 
ever, gone there on horseback, traveling and preaching 
through the wildest bnish country, with only such 
changes of clothing as I could carry in my saddle- 
bags. If I was a little mortified at my personal appear- 
ance when the presiding elder introduced me to the 
venerable bishop, and he introduced me to the Con- 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IK THE BRUSH. 21 

ference, and tliej all arose to their feet to do me 
honor, and welcome me as the representative of the 
American Bible Society, I had at least this satisfac- 
tion, that with the large audience present my dress 
would do something to correct the popular impression, 
very widely prevalent in the Brush, that " Presb^^te- 
rian ministers preach for good clothes." 

One by one the small congregation arrived at the 
chapel — men, women, and children — on horseback. 
When they had all assembled, we went in, and I 
preached, and they ''lifted a collection" amounting to 
three dollars and twenty-five cents. After dining ^^'ith 

Brother M , at a house near by, I mounted my 

horse for a long ride, to reach my appointment for the 
night. My kind friends gave me a great many direc- 
tions, and I started out. There was nothing Avorthy 
of the name of a public road. There wxre wagon - 
tracks and paths running in all directions among the 
black-jacks, and crossing each other at all angles. 
Whenever, for a short distance, there was a fence on 
both sides of a road, that was called a "lane." One 
track would lead me to the back side of a tobacco- 
patch, where it ended ; another led me where some 
rails had been " mauled " and recently hauled away. 
The roads leading to j^lantations were more worn, and 
looked more like the "main traveled road," than those 
that were intended for public highways. I inquired 

my way at each plantation that I passed, and every 

2 



22 I^ THE BEUSn. 

other opportunity ; and these were far too rare for my 
wants. Once I saw, from an elevation, a peach-tree 
in bloom in the distance. It was like the human foot- 
print in the sand to Robinson Crusoe on his lonely 
island. I said, " There is a sign of humanity," and start- 
ed for it. But when I reached it the log-cabin near 
which it was planted was empty, and I started out 
again into the labyrinths of paths. Often that after- 
noon, and often er in the years that followed, when I 
have been lost in the Brush, I exclaimed, " Blessed be 
the man that devised our national system of 'sectional 
surveys'!" I do not know what man or men devised 
it, but I do know that the country owes him or them 
a debt of gratitude it can never pay. Where section- 
lines are established, there roads are located, roads run- 
ning at right angles, and school-districts, townships, 
and larger communities have definite boundaries; and 
every neighborhood and farm may have the benefit of 
established and good roads. These barrens, like vast 
regions of country over which I have traveled, never 
had the benefit of such a survey. The original settlers 
had found places where the land, timber, water, etc., 
suited them, and had measured off, perhaps with a 
pole or grape-vine, hundreds or thousands of acres in 
any shape their fancy directed — their surveys often 
overlapping each other at various points. Hence in- 
terminable lawsuits in regard to boundaries, and the 
greater calamity of having no established lines for a 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IJ^ TEE BEUSK 23 

uniform system of roads. A learned author has said, 
'• You may judge the civilization of a country by its 
roads." If this is a true criterion, there is a vast ex- 
tent of country over which I have traveled, in the 
Southwest and South, that will take a very low rank 
in the scale of civilization. I remember one man in 
the Brush who told me he had raised that year three 
hogsheads of tobacco, but the roads were so bad that 
the transportation of his crop, sixty miles to market, 
had cost him one hogshead of tobacco — one third of 
the proceeds of his summer's work ! One of the 
most prominent causes of the development and growth 
of our Western States is the manner in which they 
were surveyed, and their system of roads ; one of the 
greatest hindrances to the prosperity of other and large 
sections of our country is that they have had no such 
survey, and are not likely to have any such roads. 

I reached the house of Mr. R , to whom I was 

directed, soon after sundown, and learned that my ap- 
pointment had reached him, and he was expecting me. 
He at once gave orders to his boys to get the shell- 
bark-hickory torches that they had provided to light us 
home, and without dismounting he led my way, on 
foot, about a mile, to an unj^ainted, unplastered, barn- 
like-looking building, known as "Blue Knobs Church." 
A few tallow-candles shed their glimmering rays upon 
the uj)turned faces of the not large audience that 
listened to my descrijDtion of the Bible House, its nu- 



24 IN THE BRUSH. 

meroiis presses, and vast facilities for publishing the 
Bible ; and, in response to my appeal for funds for the 
noble cause I represented, they '' lifted a collection " 
amounting to ninety-four cents. In the light of the 
torches thoughtfully provided for me, I climbed up 
the sides of the knob — the higher elevations of land 
in this reorion are called " knobs " — to the home of 
my host. Supper was now prepared for the family 
and myself; and I learned that it was the custom of 
the people to defer supper until this hour, when- 
ever they had meetings at night. 

Fairly seated in the house, I saw such a group of 
little children as I had never seen before, belonging to 
one family. We had not talked long before the father 
volunteered an explanation. He told me his wife had 
died, leaving nine children, one but a few days old. 
Xot many months after, he had married a young widow 
with three children, as young as his three youngest, 
and one had been born since their marriage. Of the 
thirteen present, the majority were under ^yq years 
old. Subsequently, in my travels, I spent a night with 
a family where there was a large number of young 
children, and I asked the mother the age of the eldest 
and the youngest. The eldest would be six years old 
the next June; the youngest was six weeks old. She 
had six healthy children^ that had been born in less 
than six years, and none of them were twins. 

On Thursday I started early in the morning and 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH, 25 

rode tlirough a country that differed but little from 
that through which I had passed the day before, to 
the place of my appointment. On going to the hall 
of the secret society, where I was to preach, I learned 
that it was the night of their regular weekly meeting, 
and they could not yield their room to me. Such col- 
lisions are not unfrequent in the Brush, and the peo- 
ple describe them by a very striking figure of speech, 
which gives some idea of their sports and tastes. 
They say of them that " the appointments locked 
horns." I did not care to test the strength of my 
neck, and therefore, as was altogether proper in the 
circumstances, did not preach. That night I slept in 
the loft of a log-cabin. It was entirely unceiled, and 
the roof was so low that I had to stooj) to make my 
way to my bed ; and when in it I could easily place 
my hands upon the roof-boards and rafters. The 
openings between the logs afforded abundant ventila- 
tion. In the morning, I found such conveniences as 
were afforded for washing, not in my room, but out- 
of-doors, at the side of the well. Afterward, I slept 
in hundreds of such cabin-lofts — slept in them until 
the sight of smoky, dingy roof-boards and rafters was 
wellnigh as familiar a sight on opening my eyes in 
the morning, as the sky overhead when I went to the 
well to wash, sometimes in a basin or dish, but often 
by having the water poured upon my hands from a 
gourd. I remember one occasion when, after traveling 



26 IJ^ THE BRUSH, 

for weeks in tlie Brusli, I arrived at a small county- 
seat village, and spent the night in a new bnilding 
that had recently been erected for a young ladies' sem- 
inary. In the morning, as I opened my eyes, they 
were greeted with the sight of new white-plastered 
walls above and around me. The sight was so rare 
that it thrilled me with joy. The smooth, clean plas- 
ter seemed absolutely beautiful. I have never since 
experienced more delightful sensations in gazing upon 
the most magnificent paintings. I can see now the 
new, cheap bedstead, the clean sheets, the blue-calico 
window-curtains, the white walls, and recall the sen- 
sations of intense pleasure that they inspired. It was 
as if I had slept for weeks in a dungeon, and awoke 
in the most delightful home. 

On Friday morning I started early again, and b}^ 
a most difficult and crooked route through the "bar- 
rens," made my way to the residence of "Uncle Billy 

H ," to whose hospitality I had been commended. 

Here I found a brick house on a turnpike-road, and 
" Uncle Billy " was a " good liver." He went with 
me at night to a small church, located upon a stream, 
near a grist-mill, and I preached, and "lifted a collec- 
tion " amounting to four dollars and five cents. 

On Saturday morning, my appointments for the 
week being all fulfilled, I took the turnpike and 
started for the county-seat. I was never so grateful for 
a good road, and never so willing and glad to pay toll. 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH. 27 

At various points along the "pike," as it was uni- 
versally called, I saw tracks leading off into the woods, 
and was told that they were known as " shunpikes," 
and that some peoj^le in traveling would take these 
and go through the woods around the toll-gates, in 
order to avoid paying toll. I had not the slightest dis- 
position to perj)etrate that immorality and meanness. 
I stuck to the pike as one would to an old friend and 
guide, after having been bewildered and lost in the 
most perilous ways. It was comfortable not to be ask- 
ing and getting "directions" that were a good deal 
more incomprehensible and past finding out than the 
blind roads and paths I was trying to follow. I w^as 
most happy to be freed from the disagreeable feelings 
of uncertainty and anxiety as to whether or not I was 
in the right road or path, and was making progress 
in the right direction, or I should be obliged to re- 
trace my steps. As I rode on thus, dark clouds rolled 
up the sky and it began to rain. I unstrapped my 
umbrella from my saddle, and, as I spread it, my 
horse, that had seemed as gentle as any horse could 
be, shot from under me with a movement so sud- 
den and swift, that I struck but once on his rump, 
rolled off behind him, and he went tearing into the 
^voods at the side of the "pike." I never could un- 
derstand how my feet were disentangled from the stir- 
rups, and how I fell upon the hard turnpike-road 
without being hurt at all. But I know that that kind 



28 IN THE BRUSH. 

Protector was with me who has preserved me through 
so manj years of travel upon oceans, lakes, rivers, 
and during unnumbered thousands of miles of travel by 
railroad, stage, and on horseback, over the roughest 
and wildest portions of the land, without ever suffer- 
ing a more serious accident than this. I followed my 
horse into the woods, but could not find him, and 
walked about four miles to the village in the rain. 

After dinner, my kind clerical friend and host 
rode with me several miles to find my horse, and my 
saddle-bags that he had carried into the woods with 
him, but our search was in vain. At night, after our 
return, a black boy — a slave — who had found my horse 
in the woods, brought him to me, and received his re- 
ward. The saddle-bags I never found. More than all 
else I regretted the loss of my small Bible, that had 
been my constant companion during all my school- 
days, and in all my travels by sea and by land for 
many years before. 

Sunday was a cold, rainy, cheerless day. I preached 
to a very small congregation that assembled in the 
morning, and ''lifted a collection" amounting to nine 
dollars and five cents. In the afternoon and at nijrht 
it rained so hard that there were no public services. 

Monday, I spent the forenoon with the officers of 
the county Bible Society, instructing them in their 
duties and aiding them in writing their reports. In 
the afternoon I attended a funeral that was less like a 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IJ^ THE BRUSH. 29 

funeral than any I liad ever witnessed, and seemed 
more strange to me than anything I had yet seen. 
The clergyman invited me to go with him to the grave- 
yard, where he had engaged to be present at the buriah 
The funeral party was from the country. The coffin 
was conveyed in a large farm-wagon drawn by six 
mules. The mud was very deep and very red. The 
family and neighbors followed on horseback, a strag- 
gling company, attemj)ting to maintain no semblance 
of a procession or any kind of order. The women were 
dressed as I have since seen thousands of Brush-women 
dressed. They had long riding-skirts made of coarse 
cotton-factory cloth, dyed the inevitable butternut-color. 
Their bonnets were of the simplest possible construc- 
tion, made of any kind of calico, stiffened and bent over 
the top of the head in such form as to protect the 
neck, and project a long distance beyond the face, and 
usually called " sun-bonnets." The company all rode 
as near the grave as they conveniently could, and 
with the exception of those who officiated in lowering 
the coffin into the grave, they all sat upon their 
horses while the clergyman performed his brief relig- 
ious services. There were no sable mourning-weeds. 
The contrast in colors and dress from those usually 
seen at a funeral, as well as in all the forms generally 
observed on such an occasion, impressed me very 
strangely. On another occasion I attended a funeral 
where the company followed after the corpse in the 



30 IN THE BRUSH. 

same straggling manner, tliongh the most of them 
were on foot, and on their way to the graveyard they 
climbed the fences and went across-lots by a shorter 
route, leaving the hearse to go around the road, and 
they were at the grave to receive and bury the corpse 
when the hearse arrived. This was not from any 
want of respect, for the person buried was a college 
graduate and lawyer. It was simply their way of 
doing things. 

On Tuesday, having completed all my arrange- 
ments for the exploration and supj)ly of the county 
with Bibles, I took stage and returned to headquar- 
ters. As from time to time I received the rejDorts of 
the Bible-distributor, and learned of the amount sold, 
and of the large number of families destitute who 
gladly received as a gift this inestimable treasure, I 
felt that in all my toils and personal privations in thus 
exploring the Brush, I had not labored in vain nor 
spent my strength for naught. In the great day, when 
all the good results of these labors shall be revealed, I 
know that there will be no cause for regret, but much 
for joy. 

I was now better prepared than ever before to un- 
derstand just what I needed and all that I needed 
to complete my outfit for the Brush. My experience 
in horseback-riding had been particularly instructive 
on this subject. After somewhat extended but fruit- 
less search and inquiry for a horse, such as I needed 



MY OUTFIT FOE MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH. 31 

in that vicinity, I took steamer for a great horse- 
market a hundred and fifty miles distant. Here I 
found great droves of horses, in vast stables, attended 
by scores of jockeys, all wide awake and eager to 
show me the very article that I wanted. I went from, 
stable to stable, looked at a good many, heard the 
most satisfactory statements from their voluble owners 
in regard to the qualities of those that were brought 
out and submitted to my special inspection, mounted 
some of them and rode a short distance to test their 
qualities, but did not purchase. Indeed, I became en- 
tirely satisfied that I Avas not as verdant in regard to 
horse-fiesh as from my pale looks and clerical appear- 
ance they generally took me to be. Though a clergy- 
man, and the son of a clergyman, my father had 
penetrated the wilderness of Western ]^ew York, pur- 
chased a farm, and erected his log-cabin west of the 
Genesee River in 1807, when there was but a single 
log-house where Rochester now stands. Hence, from 
my childhood I had enjoyed the invaluable advan- 
tages of farm-life and labors. I had ridden colts, 
driven and worked horses, and learned what is hardly 
worth less in the future battle of life than all that is 
acquired in college and professional schools. 

While looking through these large stables I heard 
of a horse that had been sent to a stable to be sold 
on account of some changes in the family of the 
owner. I went and looked at her, and was greatly 



32 /^ TFIE BRUSH. 

pleased. I mounted lier, rode a few miles, and re- 
turned perfectly satisfied and delighted. In a short 
time I paid the price asked, and was her happy owner. 
It was love at first sight, love that never failed, but 
grew stronger and stronger through all the years that 
we journeyed together. I took her on board the 
steamer with me, and returned to headquarters. Next 
I procured saddle, bridle, halter, spurs, leggins, and 
saddle-bags. For leggins I bought a yard and a half 
of butternut jean, which was cut into two equal parts, 
and the buttons and button-holes so arranged that I 
could wrap them tightly around my legs from a short 
distance above my knees, and button them on. They 
were secured from slij)ping down by a pair of strings 
which were wound about the legs both above and be- 
low the knees, in such a manner as not to interfere 
with their free movement in either riding or walking. 
A good deal of skill, as well as a good deal of awk- 
wardness, may be disj)layed in putting on and tying 
on a pair of leggins ; and when a man displays un- 
usual facility and skill in this matter in his travels 
through the Brush, he is at once taken to be either 
an itinerant preacher — or a horse-thief. In long horse- 
l)ack journeys these leggins are invalnable as a pro- 
tection against mud, rain, and cold. I have traveled 
over the muddiest roads, many days and weeks, when, 
on arriving at the house of some hospitable friend, I 
was so completely bespattered and covered with mud 



MY OUTFIT FOR MY LIFE IN THE BRUSH. 33 

that I looked very much like the roads through which 
I had been traveling ; but, on taking off m j leggins 
and overcoat, I laid aside the most of the mud with 
them, and so presented a very respectable appearance. 

But the saddle-bags were indispensable. In them 
I carried all the changes in my wardrobe, and all 
such articles for my personal comfort as one can have 
whose home is on horseback ; together with such re- 
ports, documents, and papers, as were indispensable to 
me in the prosecution of my labors. With a large 
blanket-shawl rolled compactly together, and strapped 
with my umbrella behind my saddle upon a pad at- 
tached to it for this purpose, I was prepared to travel 
without any regard to rain or weather. 

Behold me, then, with my new and complete out- 
fit, mounted and starting for the Brush, in a broad- 
brimmed white hat, snuff-colored overcoat, butternut- 
dyed pantaloons, leggins, heavy boots, and spurs. My 
saddle-bags were thrown across the saddle, and my 
blanket-shawl and umbrella strapped behind it. As I 
rode out of the city into the country, I met a country- 
man on his way to town, who greeted me with a 
pleasant "How d'y, sir?" and, as he scanned with a 
pleasant face my outfit, he added, "Traveling, sir?" 
A countryman, and to the " manner born," that 
was his quick recognition and approval of the perfec- 
tion and completeness of my outfit for the Brush. 
Two negroes, who were felling a huge tree in the 



34: IN THE BRUSH. 

dense forest at tlie roadside, paused in tlieir labor, 
and manifested their approval with a broad African 
grin, and " Mighty nice hoss, dat, massa ! " 

In my next chapter I shall make good these com- 
ments. 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE ITINERANT PIONEER PREACHEr's FAITHFUL HORSE. 

I THINK a good horse is worthy of a niche in the 
temple of fame. I know that many men have been 
immortahzed in song and eloquence, and had magnifi- 
cent monuments erected to their memory, who have 
never done one half as much for the good of the 
world as the faithful animal I rode so many years, 
through the wilds of the Southwest, in the service of 
the American Bible Society. But very few men 
have done as much to promote the circulation of the 
Word of God, " without note or comment," as she did 
in those years of faithful labor. 

If there be a paradise where there are purling 
streams, grateful shade, and fat pastures for horses 
that have been faithful and true, I am sure that she 
has a high rank in " the noble army " of horses that in 
sunshine and in storm, with unflagging devotion, have 
borne itinerant pioneer preachers through mud and 
rain, and sleet and snow, as with glowing, burning 
zeal they have prosecuted their heroic Christian labors. 



36 /^V THE BRUSH. 

All honor to the itinerant's faithful horse — ray own 
among the number! My very pen seems to catch 
new inspiration, and dance with delight, as I attempt 
her eulogy. 

In fact, she shrank from no toil in the prosecution 
of this good work. She never kept me from fulfilling 
an appointment by refusing to ford a river. She 
never hesitated to enter any canebrake it was neces- 
sary for me to cross, and, though the canes w^ere ever 
so thick and tangled, and resisted her progress like so 
many ropes or cords around her breast, yet she pressed 
carefully and firmly against them, until they yielded 
to her power, and we emerged safely from the thicket. 
She never flinched from climbing the steepest moan- 
tain-paths, where I had to hold on to her mane with 
both hands to keep from sliding off behind her; and 
then she would as kindly perform the more difiicult 
feat of descending such paths, stepping carefully and 
firmly so as not to stumble or fall, w^hile I kei)t my 
position in the saddle by holding on to the crupper 
with one hand and guiding her with the other. In a 
word, she never failed or disappointed me at any 
time, in any place, or in any particular. 

She was of medium size, light-sorrel color, white 
face, and in all respects of admirable form and mold. 
She had been broken for the saddle to either pace, 
trot, or gallop, and each gait was about as easy and 
perfect as possible. In long journeys of weeks, and 



TEE PREACHER'S HORSE. 37 

sometimes of months, her movements were always free 
and fleet, and by alternating from one gait to another 
she bore me abont as easily and gently as one could 
well wish to be carried on horseback. But her kind, 
affectionate disposition was her crowning excellence. I 
never hitched her and went into a house for a long 
or short stay, that she did not greet me as soon as I 
opened the door on my return with her affectionate 
whinny. She would recognize me among the congre- 
gation, as I came out of any church where I had 
preached, or wherever she could see me in the largest 
gatherings of people, and always with the same warm 
salutation. Whenever I went to her stable in the 
morning, or wherever I approached her after a brief 
separation, her demonstrations of affection were as 
strong as they could well be without human powers. 

On one occasion I rode up to the bank of a small 
river, very near its mouth, and hailed the ferryman 
on the opposite side. While waiting for him to cross, 
I led her down upon the planks which extended a 
short distance into the river, that she might drink. 
Wading into the water, she stepped beyond the planks 
and instantly sank to her breast in the mud. It was 
the sediment that had been deposited there by numer- 
ous freshets. As she went down the entire depth of 
her fore-legs in an instant, she made one desperate 
effort to extricate herself, but in vain. She seemed to 
comj)rehend her condition perfectly, turned to me with 



38 IN THE BRUSH. 

a beseecliing look and groan, and did not make another 
struggle. I told her to lie still, and started on a run 
to get some teamsters, whom I had met with their 
large six-horse teams as I rode up to the river-bank, 
to help me in getting her out. They kindly came to 
my aid, and by putting my saddle-girth under her 
breast, and tying roj^es to each end of it, they lifted 
her out of the mud by main strength. When she was 
fairly on her feet, her demonstrations of gratitude were 
most remarkable. She thanked me over and over 
again as plainly and strongly as horse-language would 
possibly admit of, danced around me with delight, per- 
sisted in rubbing her nose against me in the most 
affectionate manner, and showed a joy that seemed 
wellnigh human. It was warm summer weather, and 
on reaching the hotel on the opposite shore I had her 
legs and her entire body from the tips of her ears to 
the end of her tail thoroughly washed and rubbed 
dry. After dinner I resumed my journey, and she 
was as well as ever. 

Everywhere, during all the years that I traveled in 
th€ Brush, my Jenny — for that was the name I gave 
her — made friends for herself and me. If I rode up 
to a house upon a plantation, hailed it according to 
the custom of the country, and was welcomed to its 
hospitalities by the owner, he would call a negro servant : 

" IIo ! boy, carry this horse to the stable and take 
good care of her. D'ye hear?" 



TEE PREACEER'S E0R8E. 39 

"When I dismounted, she understood that her long 
day's journey was ended, and knew where she was 
going as well as the servant did. When mounted, she 
would start with a fleet pace that was almost as gen- 
tle in its movements as the rocking of a cradle ; which 
would make the rider roll the white of his eyes with 
the supremest African delight. Yery often I have 
seen them turn their faces, beaming with satisfaction, 
and cast back furtive glances upon groups of young 
Africans that were gazing after them with an admira- 
tion that was only equaled by their envy of the rider's 
happy lot. Before reaching the stable a friendship, 
if not affection, was established that insured the most 
liberal allowance of "fodder" and corn, and the most 
thorough currying, brushing, and care. I have no 
doubt that on many such occasions they promised 
themselves a pleasant stolen night-ride, to visit friends 
on some near or remote plantation, and that they did 
not forget or fail to make good their promises. When 
I sometimes had occasion to protract my stay for sev- 
eral days, it was amusing to listen to the frequent 
applications from young Africa to ride her to the 
brook and water her. They were intensely solicitous 
that she should not fail to get water — or themselves 
rides! At all places, whether on cultivated plantations 
or deep in the Brush, whether she was cared for by 
black or white, she received the same kind attention. 
Hence she was always in the best order and condition 



40 IN THE BRUSH. 

— always able and ready to take me the longest jour- 
neys, tlirougli any amount of mud and mire, and over 
the roughest roads, wherever it was necessary for me 
to go. I am sure that the people were the more glad 
to see me on her account. My honored instructor, 
the venerable President Nott, of Union College, in 
his lectures on the " Beautiful," used to say : 

" Young gentlemen, undoubtedly the two most beau- 
tiful objects in nature are a beautiful horse and a beauti- 
ful lady. I hoj)e you will not think me ungallant in 
putting the horse before the lady." I gratified the 
love of the beautiful in a fine horse, and so won their 
esteem and love. But I. was often as much surj)rised 
and gratified at her behavior in her travels with me 
upon Western steamboats as upon land. On one occa- 
sion I took her on board a large New Orleans steamer 
with a deck-load of mules, horses, sheep, etc., and rode 
some two hundred miles. I reached the place of my 
destination about midnight, and was obliged to land at 
that hour. She was standing immediately back of the 
wheel-house, and on the side of the boat toward the 
shore. But the boat was so loaded that I was obliged to 
lead her a long distance around by the stern, past the 
heels of braying mules and bellowing cattle, to the point 
opposite the place from which I had started ; then for- 
ward, crossing the boat immediately in front of the roar- 
ing wood-fires, which were on the same deck, and on to 
the bow, where I led her down the plank on to a large 



THE PREACHER'S HORSE. 41 

wharf-boat. I then led her the entire length of this 
boat, and down a long plank-way to the shore. And all 
this through the indescribable din and confusion made 
bj mates and deck-hands in landing freight, passengers, 
and baggage, and the deafening screech of the whistle 
in blowing off steam. "When I took her by the bits and 
said, " Come, Jenny," she placed her head against my 
shoulder and followed me all this long, crooked, noisy 
route, with the confidence of a child. I had led her on 
and off a great many noisy steamers, but that was the 
most notable instance of all. 

But my Jenny had some other qualities which I 
should never have discovered had they not been made 
known to me by others. Elsewhere in this volume I 
have spoken at length of my visit to a celebrated water- 
ing-place, and of the numerous gamblers and other 
strange characters that I met there. It was in the midst 
of a very wild region. When I had arrived within a 
few hours' ride of the springs, I stopped to dine at a 
house of private entertainment. A large four-horse 
stage, loaded with passengers bound for the springs, soon 
drove up and stopped at the same house, which was the 
regular place of dining for the passengers. After din- 
ner I rode on to the springs, keeping along the most of 
the way in company with the stage. My Jenny at- 
tracted very marked attention from the driver and pas- 
sengers. The driver especially was profuse in his ex- 
pressions of admiration. As I rode up to the hotel, the 



42 IN TEE BRUSH. 

listless, lounging visitors, who were so deep in the Brush 
that they had very little to attract or interest them, 
regarded her gait and movements with general attention 
and delight. When I dismounted, a black boy was soon 
in my saddle, and my Jenny moved off to the stable with 
her usual fleetness and grace. I entered the hotel and 
registered my name, without any prefix or suffix to indi- 
cate my employment or profession. The weather was 
very hot, the roads very dusty, and after the fashion of 
the country I was at once furnished with water to wash. 
As I stood wiping myself, the stage-driver rushed 
into the room and up to me in great excitement and 
said : 

"Mr. Pierson, will you allow your horse to run? 
The money is up and we'll have a race if you'll only 
allow her to run" — at the same time holding up and 
shaking in my face a mass of bills that were drawn 
through his fingers, after the fashion of gamblers in 
those parts. I was startled to hear my name pronounced 
in a strange place, and by a stranger, but in a moment 
bethought me that he had learned it by looking on the 
hotel-register. I was more startled by the strangeness 
of the proposition. As the servant stood with my sad- 
dle-bags on his arm, waiting to show me to my room, 
I answered perhaps a little too abruptly, " No, sir," and 
followed him to my room, to prepare for supper. 
When the supper-bell rang, and I stepped out of my 
room upon the piazza, a portly man of gentlemanly bear- 



TEE PREACHER'S HORSE. 43 

ing, who had evidently taken his position there to wait 
for me, approached me pleasantly and said : 

" I hope, sir, you will reconsider yonr decision and 
allow your mare to run. As soon as you rode up I 
offered to bet two hundred and fifty dollars that she 
would outrun anything here, and the money is up. 
Allow me to say that I am an old Virginian, and a judge 
of horses, and if you will let her run I am sure to win." 

By this time I had entirely recovered my self-posses- 
sion, and, bowing politely, I looked directly into his eyes 
and said : 

"Do you think, sir, it will do for a Presbyterian 
clergyman to commence horse-racing so soon after reach- 
ing the Springs ? " 

He was as much startled as I had been — in fact, so 
startled that he could not say a word, and I left him 
without any reply, and went in to supper. When I re- 
turned from the dining-room I found him at the door, 
and he approached me in the most subdued and respect- 
ful manner and said : 

"Allow me to speak to you again, sir. I wish to 
apologize, sir ; I beg your pardon, sir ; I assure you, sir, 
that nothing would induce me knowingly to insult a 
clergyman." 

I responded, very pleasantly : 

"' I am certain, sir, that no insult was intended, and 
therefore there is no pardon to be granted." 

He thanked me very warmly for my kind construe- 



4:4: I^ THE BRUSH. 

tion of his motives, and left me with a lighter step and 
brighter face. His companions were all greatly pleased 
with my treatment of the matter ; and, as I have else- 
where said, there was a general turnout of all the gam- 
blers — of whom he was one of the most prominent — to 
hear me preach in the ballroom the next Sabbath. But 
I need not say, to any one at all familiar with life in the 
Southwest, that he had to "stand treat" all around 
among his companions, for being thus, in the vernacular 
of the country, " picked up " by the preacher. 

In passing through another part of this county the fol- 
lowing winter, I rode up to a blacksmith-shop to get a shoe 
tightened. As soon as the blacksmith came out he said : 

" Wasn't you at the Springs last summer with this 
mare ? " 

I replied in the affirmative, and, on looking at him, 
recognized the man that kept a little shop there, and 
had shod her in the summer. 

" Well," said he, leaning upon her neck, patting her 
affectionately, and looking into vacancy with a pleased 
expression, as if living over som.e pleasant scene in the 
past, "they got her out, preacher, and run her, any 
way." And then, as if to make the matter all right 
with me, he looked up into my face and said, with 
the most satisfied smile and emphatic nod : " And, 
preacher, she beat, she did. He won his money ! " 

During my vacation-trips to the East, for several 
summers, I left my horse with some kind, warm 



TEE PREACHER'S HORSE. 45 

friends upon a plantation, for the ladies and cliil- 
dren to ride as tliey might wish. At first it was 
difficult for me to make satisfactory arrangements to 
leave her for several weeks. I could not trust her 
at a livery-stable. There I felt sure she would get a 
great many stolen rides. I found also that the temp- 
tation was too great for the virtue of some professed 
friends with whom I left her, for on my return I 
found she had been overridden, and looked worn rather 
than rested from the vacation I had intended for 
her as well as myself. But in my travels I found a 
lady from my native State, New York, who had 
gone South as a teacher, and married a planter. There 
was a slight disparity in their ages. I would not 
take oath as to the exact difference, but I heard a good 
many times that, when married, she was nineteen and 
he forty-nine. If that was so, the marriage furnished 
confirmation of the popular talk and notions concern- 
ing " an old man's darling." He was certainly as kind 
and indulgent as a husband could well be. She was a 
Presbyterian and he a Baptist. He was kind and ge- 
nial, and full of vivacity and life, and loved to entertain 
me as his " wife's preacher," and for her sake, as well as 
to gratify his own warm social instincts. Here, at each 
return for years, I ever found the warmest welcome 
and the kindest home. To her my visits were like those 
of an old friend, for, when far away from the com- 
panions and scenes of early life, the ties that unite 



46 IN THE BRUSH. 

those from tlie same State become strong and endear- 
ing. But far stronger than this is the bond that unites 
members of different churches to their own clergymen, 
and especially when they but rarely enjoy their minis- 
trations. Gifted, intelligent, and full of energy, and 
also sympathizing deeply with the object of my Chris- 
tian toils and labors, she spared no pains to make her 
house what it ever was to me, a delightful resting-place 
and home. A large, fine chamber always awaited me, 
to which they gave my name, and here I spent many 
delightful hours. I brought to them many tales of my 
adventures in the Brush, for which my host had the 
keenest appreciation, and I heard from him many ac- 
counts of preachers and preaching he had known and 
heard that are hard to be surpassed, which I intend to 
give my readers in another chapter. It was with these 
friends that for years I left my horse during all my 
vacation- journeys. Here she became a family pet. 
Here I was sure she would never be overridden, and 
always receive the kindest care. Here she came to be 
regarded with an attachment, if possible, greater than my 
own ; for, when I returned for her, the children would 
have a hearty cry as I rode her away. "When at length 
I closed my labors in the Southwest and left the region, 
my kind Baptist friend was more than glad to procure 
her for his Presbyterian wife, and I left her wliere I was 
sure she would have the kindest treatment while ser- 
viceable, and enjoy a comfortable and honored old age. 



CHAPTEE lY. 

OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IJST THE SOUTHWEST. 

The hospitality extended to ministers of tlie gospel 
bj the people who lived in the Brush was generous 
and large-hearted to a degree that I have never known 
among any other class of people. They obeyed the 
Scripture injunction, "Use hospitality without grudg- 
ing." They were " not forgetful to entertain strangers." 
I found their tables, their beds, their stables, and indeed 
all the comforts of their rude homes, always open for 
the rest and refreshment of myself and my indispensa- 
ble horse. We were as welcome to all these as to the 
water that bubbled from their springs and " ran among 
the hills." 

At the commencement of my itinerant life, on leav- 
ing the families where I had spent a night or taken a 
meal, I used to propose to pay them, and ask for my 
bill ; but I found this gave offense. Many seemed to 
regard it as a reflection on their generosity for me to 
intimate or suppose that they would take pay for enter- 
taining a preacher. I therefore adopted a formula that 



48 IN THE BRU8E. 

saved me from all danger of wounding their feelings, 
and relieved my cliaracter from all suspicion of a dis- 
position to avoid the payment of my bills. It was as 
follows : When about to leave a family, I said to them, 
"I am indebted to yon for a night's entertainment," 
to which the general response was: "]^ot at all, sir. 
Come and stay with us again, whenever you pass this 
way." 

It was a very rare occurrence that I was permitted 
to cancel my indebtedness by paying for what I had 
received. 

In thanking them for their hospitality, as of course 
I always did on leaving them, they made me feel that 
I had conferred a favor rather than incurred an obli- 
gation by staying with them. 

For years it was my custom to apply for entertain- 
ment at any house wherever night overtook me, and 
I invariably received a cordial welcome. This applica- 
tion for entertainment was always made according to 
the custom of the people, and in their own vernacular, 
which I will illustrate by an example. 

In my horseback-journeyings I had reached the tall, 
dense, heavy forests of the bottom-lands of the Missis- 
sippi Eiver, about a dozen miles from the Father of 
Waters. As the sun was about setting, I came upon a 
large " dead'ning," where the underbrush had been cut 
out and burned off, the large trees had been girdled 
and had died, and a crop of corn had been raised among 



OLD-TIME EOSriTALITY IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 49 

the dead forest-trees, before the Dew-comer in this wil- 
derness had been able to completely clear a field around 
his newly-erected log-cabin. Turning o£E from the cor- 
duroy-road upon which I had been traveling, I took a 
footpath, and, following that, was soon as near the cabin 
as a high rail-fence would allow me to approach on 
horseback. A short distance from this log-cabin was a 
still smaller one occupied by a colored aunty and her 
family, and used for a kitchen ; and not far off still an- 
other log-building, used for a barn and stable. 

The most of my readers in the older sections of the 
country will suppose that I had now only to dismount, 
hitch my horse, climb the fence, rap at the door, and so 
gain admittance to my resting-place for the night. Far 
otherwise. Only the most untraveled and inexperi- 
enced in the Brush would undertake so rash an experi- 
ment. 

Sitting upon my horse, I called out in a loud voice, 
" Hello there ! " That call was for the same purpose that 
the city pastor mounts the stone steps and rings the 
bell at the door of his parishioner. It was rather more 
effective. 

A large pack of hounds and various other kinds of 
dogs responded with a barking chorus, a group of black 
pickaninnies rushed from the adjacent kitchen, followed 
to the door by their sable mother, with arms a-kimbo 
and hands fresh from mixing the pone or corn-dodger 
for the family supper; all, with distended eyes and 



50 I^ THE BRUSH. 

mouth, and sliining ivory, staring at the stranger with 
excited and pleased curiosity. At ahnost the same in- 
stant, the mistress of the incipient plantation ap- 
proached the door of her cabin, stoekingless and shoe- 
less, with a dress of woolsey woven in lier own loom by 
her own hands, and cut and made by her own skill, with 
face not less pleased and excited than the others, and 
her cordial greeting of " How d'y, stranger — how d'y, 
sir ? 'Light, sir ! [alight]— 'light, sir ! " 

Remaining upon my horse, I rej)lied : "I am a 
stranger in these parts, madam. I have ridden about 
fifty miles since morning and am very tired. Can I 
get to stay with you to-night, madam ? " 

''Oh, yes," she replied, promptly, "if you can put 
uj) with our rough fare. We never turn anybody 
away." 

I told her I should be very glad to stay with her, 
and dismounted. The dogs, who would otherwise have 
resisted my ap^Droach to the door by a combined attack, 
obeyed their instructions not to harm me, and granted 
me a safe entrance as a recognized friend. 

Such was the universal training of the dogs, and 
sucb the uniform method of approaching and gaining 
admittance to the houses of the people in the Brush. 
'My hostess informed me that her husband was at work 
in the " dead'ning," but that he would soon be at home 
and take care of my horse. 

I told her that I could do that myself, and she 



OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST. 61 

sent her little son along with me to the stable, where 
I bestowed that kind and, I maj saj, affectionate care 
that one who journeys for years on horseback learns to 
bestow upon his faithful horse. I then entered the 
cabin, and received that warm welcome that awaits 
the traveler in our "Western wilds. 

Shall I describe my home for the night ? It was a 
new log-house, less than twenty feet square, and ad- 
vanced to a state of completeness beyond many in 
which I had lodged, inasmuch as the large openings 
between the logs had been filled with "chink and 
daubing." The chimney, built upon the outside of 
the house, was made of split sticks, laid up in the 
proper form, and thoroughly "daubed" wdth mud, so 
as to prevent them from taking fire. A large opening 
cut through the logs communicated with this chimney, 
and formed the ample fireplace. The roof w^as made 
of " shakes " — pieces of timber rived out very much in 
the form of staves, but not shaved at all. These were 
laid upon the roof like shingles, except that they were 
not nailed on, but " weighted on " — kept in their 
places by small timbers laid across each row of " shakes " 
over the entire roof. These timbers were kept in their 
places by shorter ones placed between them, trans- 
versely, up and down the roof. In this manner the 
pioneer constructs a roof for his cabin, by his own 
labor, without the expenditure of a dime for nails. 
With wooden hinges and a wooden latch for his door, 



52 IN THE BRUSH. 

he needs to purchase little but glass for his windows, 
to provide a comfortable home for his family. His 
latch-string, made of hemp or flax that he has raised, 
or from the skin of the deer which he has pursued 
and slain in the chase, which, as the old song has it — 

"Hangs outside the door," 

symbolizes the cordial welcome and abounding hospi- 
tality to be found within. 

At the end of the room opposite the fireplace there 
was a bed in each corner, under one of which there 
was a "trundle-bed" for the children. There was no 
chamber-floor or chamber above to obstruct the view 
of the roof. There was no division into a]3artments, 
not even by hanging up blankets, a device I have seen 
resorted to in less primitive regions. From floor to 
roof, from wall to wall, all was a single " family " 
room, which was evidently to be occupied by the fam- 
ily and myself in common. A rough board table, 
some plain chairs, and a very few other articles com- 
pleted the inventory of household furniture of the 
pioneer's home to which I had been welcomed. 

Such a home was the birthplace of Lincoln, and 
many other of the greatest, wisest, and best men that 
have ever blessed our country. Such homes have been 
crowned with abundance, and have been the scenes of 
as much real comfort and joy as any others in our 
land. 



OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST. 53 

1 have found tliat curiosity is a trait that is not 
monopolized by any one section of country or class of 
people. It belongs to all localities, and to all grades 
and kinds of people. I therefore, in accordance with 
what a pretty wide experience had taught me was the 
best course to pursue, proceeded at once to gratify the 
curiosity of my hostess as to who her guest was, and 
what business had brought him to this wild region. I 
told her my name, and that I was a Presbyterian 
preacher, and an agent of the American Bible Society. 
This not only satisfied her curiosity, but was very 
gratifying information to her, and I received a renewed 
and cordial welcome to her home as a minister of the 
gos2)el. 

In the course of the ordinary conversation and ques- 
tions that attend such a meeting of strangers in the 
Brush, I learned that she and her husband had emi- 
grated from a county some hundreds of miles east, 
which I had several times visited in the prosecution 
of my mission, and I was able to give her a -great deal 
of information in regard to her old neighbors and 
friends. We were in the midst of an earnest conver- 
sation in regard to these people, when her husband 
came in from his labors. On being introduced to me, 
and informed in regard to my mission, he repeated the 
welcome his wife had already given me to the hospi- 
tality of their cabin. 

Our supper was such as is almost universally spread 



54 IN THE BRUSH. 

in the wilds of the Southwest. It consisted of an abun- 
dance of hot corn-bread, fried bacon, potatoes, and 
coffee. A hard day's labor and a long day's ride 
prej^ared us to do it equal justice. 

The evening w^ore rapidly away in conversation. 
Such pioneers are not dull, stupid men. Their pecul- 
iar life gives activity to mind as well as body. My 
host was anxious and glad to hear from the great 
outside active w^orld, wdth which I had more recently 
mingled, and had questions to ask and views to give 
as to what was going on in the political and religious 
world. 

At length our wearied bodies made a j)lea for rest 
that could not be refused, and I was invited to con- 
duct their family worship. This invitation was ex- 
tended in the language and manner peculiar to the 
Southern and Southwestern sections of the country. 
This is universally as follows : 

The Bible and hymn-book are brought forward by 
the host,- and laid upon the table or stand, when he 
turns to the preacher and says, "Will you take the 
books, sir ? " 

That is the invitation to lead the devotions of the 
family in singing and prayer. It has been my hapjDy 
lot to receive and respond to that invitation — as I did 
that night — in many hundreds of families and in some 
of the wildest portions of our land. 

The method of extending an invitation to " ask a 



OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST. 55 

blessing" before a meal is quite as peculiar. Being 
seated at the table, the host, turning to the preacher, 
says, " Will you make a beginning, sir 1 " — all at table 
reverently bowing their heads as he extends the invi- 
tation, and while the blessing is being asked. 

So, too, I have " made a beginning " at many a 
hospitable board in many different States. I did not 
that night make the mistake that is reported of an in- 
experienced home-missionary explorer, in similar cir- 
cumstances, who, laboring under the impression that 
" to retire " and " to go to bed " were synonymous 
terms, said, " Madam, I will retire, if you please." 

" Retire ! " she rejoined ; " we never retires, stranger. 
We, just goes to bed." 

Sitting with the family before the large fireplace, 
I said, '*' Madam, I have ridden a long distance to- 
day, and am very tired." 

"You can go to bed at any time you wish, sir," 
said she. "Just take the left-hand bed." 

I withdrew behind their backs to "lay my gar- 
ments by," took the left-hand bed, turned my face to 
the left-hand wall, and slept soundly for the night. 

"When I awoke in the morning, husband and wife 
had arisen and left the room, he to feed his team, and 
she to attend to her household duties in the kitchen. 
After an early breakfast, and again leading their fam- 
ily devotions, I bade them good-by, with many thanks 
for their kindness, and with repeated invitations on 



56 I^ THE BRUSH, 

their part to be sure to sj)end tlie night with them 
should I ever come that way again. But I have never 
seen them since. 

I have very often recalled a hospitable reception in 
the Brush, of a very different character, the recollec- 
tion of which has always been exceedingly pleasant to 
me. Wishing to visit a rough, wild, remote region, at 
a season of the year when the roads were almost im- 
passable on account of the spring rains and the mud, 
I concluded to go the greater part of the distance by 
steamboats, down one river and up another, and then 
ride about fifty miles in a stage or mail-wagon. The 
roads would scarcely be called roads at all in most 
parts of the country, and I shall not be able to give 
to many of my readers any true idea of the exceeding 
roughness of that ride. A considerable part of the way 
was through the bottom-lands of one of the smaller 
Southwestern rivers that swell the volume of the Mis- 
sissippi. A recent freshet had left the high-water mark 
upon the trees several feet higher than the backs of 
our horses; and as w^e jolted over the small stumps 
and great roots of the trees, from which the earth had 
been washed away by the freshet, I w^as wearied, ex- 
ceedingly wearied, by the rough road and comfortless 
vehicle in which I traveled. 

At length we came upon a very pleasant planta- 
tion, with a comfortable house and surroundings, where 
the driver, a boy about fifteen years old, told me he 



OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST. 57 

would feed Lis team, and we would get our dinner. It 
was not an hotel. Mail-contractors in this region often 
make such arrangements to procure feed for their 
horses and meals for the few passengers that they 
carrj, at private houses. As I entered the house I was 
greeted with one of those calm, mild, sweet faces that 
one never forgets. I should think that my hostess 
was between thirty-five and forty years old. I was 
too weary to engage in much conversation, and she 
w^as quiet, and said very little to me. As I observed 
her movements about the room in preparing the din- 
ner, I thought I had never seen a face that presented 
a more perfect picture of contentment and peace. I 
felt perfectly sure that she was a Christian — that her 
face bespoke "the peace of God that passeth all un- 
derstanding." When she invited the driver and my- 
self to take seats at the table, I said, "Shall I ask a 
blessing, madam?" 

With a smile she bowed assent, and, as I concluded 
and looked up, her face was all radiant with joy, and 
she said excitedly, " You are a preacher, sir ! " 

I replied, " Yes, madam." 

" Well," she responded, " I am glad to see you. I 
love to see preachers. I love to cook for them, and 
take care of them. I love to have them in my house." 

I told her who I was, explained the character of my 
mission, and expressed, I trust with becoming warmth, 
my gratification at the cordiality of her welcome. 



58 I^ THE BE USE. 

" Oh," said she, " if I was a man, I know what I 
would do. I would do nothing but preach. I'd go, 
and go, and go ; and preach, and preach, and preach. 
I wouldn't have anything to pester me. I wouldn't 
marry nary woman in the world. I'd go, and go, and 
go — and preach, and preach, and preach, until I could 
preach no longer ; and then I'd lie down — close my 
eyes — and — go on." 

Was there ever a more graphic and truthful de- 
scription of an earnest, apostolic life ? Was there ever 
a more simple, beautiful description of a peaceful 
Christian death? They recall the statement of Paul, 
" This one thing I do " ; and the story of Stephen, 
"And when he had said this, he fell asleep." 

The people who have spent their lives deep in the 
Brush, as this good woman had, have no other idea 
of a preacher of the gospel but one whose duty and 
mission it is to " go " and " preach." They have been 
accustomed to hearing but one message, or at most a 
few messages, from their lips, and then hear their fare- 
well words, listen to their farewell songs, shake hands 
with them, and see them take their departure to "go" 
and " preach " to others who, like them, dwell in lone 
and solitary wilds. Meetings and partings like these 
have originated and given their peculiar power to such 
refrains as — 

"Say, brothers, will you meet us — 
Say, brothers, will you meet us — 



OLD-TIME HOSPITALITY IN THE SOUTHWEST. 59 

Say, brothers, will you meet us 
On Canaan's happy shore? 

"By the grace of God we'll meet you — 
By the grace of God we'll meet you — 
By the grace of God we'll meet you 
On Canaan's happy shore." 

This woman knew little of the great world — had 
little that it calls culture ; her language was that of the 
people among whom she lived, and was such as she 
had always been accustomed to hear ; but her thoughts 
were deep and pure, her " peace flowed like a river," 
and her communion with God lifted her to companion- 
ship) with the noblest and best of earth. Though I 
spent but little more than an hour in her presence, 
and many years have passed since that transient meet- 
ing, her picture still hangs in the chamber of my 
memory, calm, pure, and saintly, and breathing upon 
my spirit a perpetual benediction. 



CHAPTER Y. 

OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS IN THE BRUSH. 

Religious meetings, popularly denominated " basket- 
meetings," were known and recognized as established 
institutions in the Brush. They were among the as- 
semblages that had resulted from the sparseness of the 
population in those regions. Where the country was 
hilly and mountainous, and the settlers were scattered 
along the streams in the narrow valleys; or the land 
was so rough and poor that only occasional patches 
would reward tillage; or for various other causes, the 
families were but few, and far distant from each 
other, it was a very difficult matter for the people to 
leave their homes day after day to attend a continuous 
meeting. Hence, among other religious gatherings, they 
liad long been accustomed to hold what were called 
basket-meetings. 

These meetings involved less labor and trouble 
than camp-meetings, and could often be held where 
such a meeting would be impossible. They were usu- 
ally not as large, and did not continue as many days. 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 61 

They were called " basket-meetings " from the fact 
that those from a distance brought their provisions, 
already cooked, in large baskets, and in quantities 
sufficient to last them during the continuance of the 
meeting. They put up no tents or cabins on the 
ground. They did not cook or sleep there. They 
most frequently commenced on Saturday, and contin- 
ued through the Sabbath. They generally had a prayer- 
meeting and preaching on Saturday forenoon, and then 
adjourned for an hour or two. During this intermis- 
sion the greater part of the people dispersed in groups 
among the trees, and took their dinner after the man- 
ner of a picnic. Those living in the immediate vicin- 
ity returned to their homes for dinner, taking with 
tliem as many of those in attendance as they could 
possibly secure. Every stranger was sure of repeated 
invitations to dine, both with these families and neigh- 
borhood groups among the trees, and at the adjacent 
cabins. After dinner they reassembled and had a repe- 
tition of the services of the morning. 

Unlike a camp-meeting, they had no services at 
night. When the afternoon meetings were concluded, 
the people dispersed and spent the night at the cabins 
within two or three miles around. All the people in 
these cabins usually kept open house upon such an 
occasion. They were present, and, after the benediction 
was pronounced, they mounted the stumps and logs 
and extended a general invitation to any present to 



62 I^ TUB BRUSn. 

spend the night with them. Not satisfied with giving 
tliis general invitation, thej jumped down and went 
among the rapidly dispersing crowd and followed it 
with private personal solicitations to accept their prof- 
fered hospitality. 

On the Sabbath, they reassembled with augmented 
numbers, and the services of Saturday were reenacted, 
with such additions and variations as the circumstances 
might demand. 

The first basket-meeting that I ever attended was 
so new and strange to me in all its incidents, that, 
though many years have intervened, my recollections 
of it are as vivid as though it had occurred but yes- 
terday. It was in a very rough, wild region. The 
country had been settled a long time, so that those in 
attendance were genuine backwoods people " to the 
manner born." The place of meeting was in a tall, 
dense, unbroken forest. The underbrush had been cut 
and cleared away, a few trees had been so felled that 
rude planks, made by splitting logs, could be placed 
across them for seats for the ladies, while the men 
mostly sat upon the trunks of other fallen trees. The 
pulpit or "stand" for the preacher was original and 
truly Gothic in its construction. It was made by cut- 
ting horizontal notches immediately opposite to each 
other, in the sides of two large oak-trees, standing 
about four feet apart, and inserting into these notches 
a board about a foot wide, that had been placed across 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 63 

a wagon and used for a seat bj some of those present 
in coming to the meeting. The preacher placed his 
Bible and hymn-book upon this board, hung the indis- 
pensable saddle-bags in which he had brought them 
across one end of it, and so was ready for the services. 
I thought I had never seen in any cathedral a pulpit 
more simple and grand. Those towering, grand old 
oaks, with their massive, outstretching branches, spoke 
eloquently of the power and grandeur of the God who 
made them. And yet, small and puny as the preacher 
appeared in the contrast, it was a fitting place for him 
to stand and proclaim his message to the people who 
worshiped beneath them. Comparatively unlearned and 
ignorant as he was, he could tell them from that open 
Bible what they would never learn in the contempla- 
tion of grand old forests, or stars, or suns, or all the 
sublimest works of nature. All these are mute and 
dumb in regard to the story of the cross. However 
they may enkindle our rapture, or excite our rever- 
ence, they will never tell us how sin may be forgiven 
— how the soul may be saved. 

The indispensable matter in the selection of grounds 
for a basket-meeting or a camp-meeting in the South- 
west was a good spring of clear, running water. This 
must be so large as to furnish an abundance of water, 
not only for all the people who would be present, but 
for all the horses necessary to transport themselves 
and their provisions to the place of meeting. In hot 



64: I^ TUB BRUSH. 

weather . the demands for water were large, and there 
was need for a " clear spring " like that so beautifully 
described by the poet Bryant : 

"... yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs, 
Wells softly forth, and wandering, steeps the roots 
Of half the mighty forest." 

The sermon on this occasion was plain, sensible, 
and earnest. The preacher was superior to the people, 
and yet in all respects one of them. lie had been born 
in the Brush, raised in the Brush, and had spent 
many years in preaching to the people in the Brush. 
He dressed as they dressed, talked as they talked, 
and, unconsciously to himself, used all their pro- 
vincialisms in his sermons. In his thoughts, feelings, 
and manner of life he was in full sympathy with them. 
He had toiled among them long, earnestly, and suc- 
cessfully. He had preached to a great many congre- 
gations, scattered over a wide extent of Brush coun- 
try. He had been associated with his brethren of 
different denominations in holding a great many union 
basket-meetings similar to the one now in ]3rogress. 
He was widely known, beloved, -and honored. Per- 
haps the most widely known, honored, and successful 
pastorate in the country has been that of the late 
Kev. Dr. Gardner Spring, in Kew York. But I do 
not think that Dr. Spring, with all his talents, cult- 
ure, and learning, could possibly have been as useful, 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 65 

as successful, as honored among these people, as was 
this preacher. He could not have eaten their coarse 
food, slept in their wretched beds, mingled with them 
in their daily life, or been in such complete sympathy 
with them in their poverty, struggles, temptations, and 
modes of thought, as to have so won their love and 
reverence, and led them in such numbers to the cross 
of Christ. " There are diversity of gifts, but the same 
spirit," etc. I honor these noble and heroic workers in 
the Master's vineyard, who thus toil on in the Brush, 
through scores of years, all unknown to fame. Many 
of them know nothing of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, 
but they know how to win souls to Christ, and the 
highest authority has said, " He that winneth souls is 
wise." 

That congregation, when assembled, seated, and en- 
gaged in their devotions, presented a scene not to be 
forgotten. The preacher, small in stature, stood upon 
a rude platform at the feet of the massive columns of 
his pulpit. The people were seated among the stand- 
ing trees, upon seats arranged without any of the 
usual regularity and order, but lying at all points of 
the compass just as they had been able to fall, the 
smaller trees among the larger ones. The voice of 
prayer and song ascended amid those massive, tower- 
ing columns, crowned with arches formed by their out- 
stretching branches, and covered with dense foliage. 
It was the worship of God in his own temple. It 



Qe IN THE BRUSH. 

carried the thoughts back to many scenes not unlike 
it, in the lives and labors of Christ and his apostles, 
when they preached and taught upon the Mount of 
Olives, by the shores of Gennesaret, and over the hills 
and valleys of Palestine. It gave new force and beauty 
to the familiar words of Bryant's grand and noble " For- 
est Hymn : " 

" The groves were God's first temples, ere man learned 
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave, 
And spread the roof above them — ere he framed 
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back 
The sound of anthems ; in the darkling wood, 
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down, 
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks 
And supplication. . . . 
.... Be it ours to meditate. 
In these calm shades, thy milder majesty, 
And to the beautiful order of thy works 
Learn to conform the order of our lives.'" 

At the conclusion of the morning sermon the 
greater part of the congregation dispersed among the 
trees to take their dinner in the manner I have al- 
ready described. I was invited to go with the preacher 
to a cabin about a mile distant, where we were to 
have our home during the meeting. We mounted 
our horses and accompanied our host through the 
woods to his residence. As I looked back, I saw that 
we were followed by some forty or more other guests. 
On reaching his home I found three buildings — a log- 
house, log-kitchen, and log-stable. Our horses were 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 67 

put in the stable and bountifully fed with corn in 
the ear and fodder. " Fodder " in these regions has 
a limited signification, and is applied only to the leaves 
which are stripped from the corn-stalks, tied in small 
bundles, and generally stacked for preservation. The 
stalks are not cut, as in the North and East, but the 
leaves are stripped from them while standing. This 
is the usual feed for horses in the place of hay. 

The house was similar to all log-houses, but, as our 
company was so numerous, I had the curiosity to ask 
our host how large it was, and he told me that he cut 
the logs just twenty feet long. Its single room was, 
therefore, less than twenty feet square. We, however, 
received a warm and cordial welcome, and host, hostess, 
and guests seemed exceedingly happy. With a part 
of the company, I was soon invited into the adjoining 
house to dinner. This was much smaller — ^not more 
than ten or fifteen feet square. A loom in one corner 
filled a large part of the room. This was a very im- 
portant part of their household treasures, as the greater 
portion of the clothing of the entire family was woven 
upon it. A long, narrow table, of home construction, 
occupied the space between the foot of the loom and 
the wall. There was a large fireplace in front, before 
which the coffee was smoking. A chair at each end 
and a bench on each side of the table furnished seats 
for ten guests. Our bill of fare was cold barbecued 
shoat, sweet potatoes roasted in the ashes, bread, honey. 



68 IN THE BRUSH. 

and coffee. Our honey was from a "bee tree," and 
our bread was of the Graham variety, from the neces- 
sities of the case. The wheat had been ground at a 
" horse mill " in the neighborhood, where they had 
no arrangements for separating the bran from the 
flour. Such a dinner was not to be despised by 
hungry men. By the way, I have found tliat over a 
very wide extent of our country the men, on. such 
occasions, always eat first and alone, the women mean- 
while standing around the table and waiting upon 
them. After we had finished our dinner, the table 
was rapidly reset by the aid of the "sisters" present, 
and ten more guests took their seats and dined. The 
same course was repeated until the table was set five 
times, and fifty persons had dined bountifully in that 
little log-cabin. 

Having all dined, we returned to the preaching 
" stand," and the congregation reassembled. I preached 
to them at 4 p. m., and all the services were conducted 
to the close in a manner not essentially different from 
preaching services- elsewhere. 

The audience was dismissed for the night, and dis- 
persed among the nearest cabins. My clerical friend 
and myself were joined by a young licentiate, and re- 
turned to spend the night at the house at which we 
had dined. The company was not as large as that at 
dinner, but to one inexperienced in such life, as I 
then was, it was beyond my comj)rehension how they 



OLD-TIME BASKET MEETINGS. 69 

could be entertained for the night. My experience 
and observation at dinner had shown me how we 
could get through with our supper. A succession of 
tables I understood, but how could that be a23plied to 
sleeping arrangements? A succession of beds was a 
kind of " succession " I had never heard or read of 
in ecclesiastical or any other history. But my perj^lexi- 
ties were evidently not felt by any one else in the 
company, and I dismissed them. 

All seemed as happy as they could w^ell be. Con- 
versation w^as animated. All tongues -were loosed. 
There were stories of former basket and other meet- 
ings, of wonderful revivals, and of remarkable con- 
versions. There were reminiscences of eccentric and 
favorite preachers who had labored among them long 
years before. There was the greatest variety of real 
Western and Southwestern religious melodies and 
songs. These were interspersed with the conversation 
during the evening, and w^ere the source of great and 
unfailing interest and joy. So the hours rolled on, 
and all were happy. It was the occasion to which 
they had looked forward, and for which they had 
planned for months — the gi^at occasion of all the year, 
and it brought no disappointment. For myself, I 
must say that if I ever drew upon my stores of anec- 
dote, and whatever powers of entertaining I may pos- 
sess, it was upon this occasion. I was quite in sym- 
pathy with the general joy and good feeling. During 



70 IN THE BRUSH, 

the evening one and another had called for the sing- 
ing of different religious songs that were their favor- 
ites. On such occasions there was a general appeal 
to a young lady, who was quite the best singer in the 
company, to know if she knew the song called for ; 
and if she did it was sung. At length a hymn was 
called for, and in response to the usual aj^peal she 
said she did not know it. I opened a book, found the 
hymn and tune, handed it to her, and said, " Here is 
the hymn w^ith the tune. Perhaps you can sing it." 

She declined to take the book, saying, with the 
utmost frankness, "Oh! sir, I can't read." 

I now learned to my amazement that all the 
hymns and tunes she had sung that evening she had 
learned by rote — learned by hearing them sung by 
others. She was a young lady, some eighteen or 
twenty years old, of more than common beauty of 
face and form, and yet she had no hesitation at all 
in revealing the fact that she could not read. I after- 
ward received a similar shock on remarking to a 
young lady that I met at a county-seat, whose home 
I had previously visited, '' I understand that a number 
of the young ladies in your neighborhood can not 
read." 

" Oh ! " said she, " there are only two young ladies 
there that can read." 

I afterward visited many neighborhoods where it 
was as proper to ask a young lady if she could read 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 71 

as it was to ask for a drink of water, tlie time of 
day, or any otlier question. 

At length the evening passed, and the hour for 
rest and sleep came. One of our number ^'took the 
books" and led our evening devotions. A chapter 
was read, our final hymn was sung, and we all bowed 
in prayer around that family altar. As we arose 
from our knees, the brethren present all walked out 
of doors. The sisters remained within. Some " Mar- 
tha " among them had enumerated our company. 
There were three beds in the cabin. These were di- 
vided, and a suflScient number of beds made up on the 
bedsteads and over the cabin-floor to furnish a sleep- 
ing-place for all our company. This accomplished, 
some signal — I know not what — was given, and the 
brethren returned to the house. I followed them. 
The sisters were all in bed, upon the bedsteads, with 
their heads covered up by the blankets. We got into 
our beds as though these blankets had been thick walls. 
Our numbers in this room included three young ladies, 
a man and his wife and child, and six other men. 
^ When we awoke in the morning some of the 
brethren engaged in conversation for a time, until Mr. 

W , the preacher, remarked, " I suppose it is time 

to think about getting up." 

At this signal the sisters covered their heads again 
with their blankets, and we arose, dressed, and de- 
parted. My companion for the night was the young 



72 I^ TEE BRUSH. 

licentiate ; and as we walked toward tlie stable to look 
after our horses — the first thing usually done in the 
morning by persons journeying on horseback — I re- 
marked to him, "Last night has been something new 
in my experience. I never slept in that way before." 

He looked at me with an expression of the pro- 
foundest astonishment, and exclaimed, " You haven't ! " 

I said no more. I saw that I was the verdant one. 
I was the only one in all the company to whom the 
experiences of the night suggested a thought of any- 
thing unusual or strange. So trite and true it is that 
"one half of the world does not know how the other 
half lives." 

The Sabbath was the "great day of the feast." It 
brought together some three or four hundred people — 
a very large congregation in such a sparseh'' settled 
country. I made an address to them in the morning, 
explaining the extended operations of the American 
Bible Society in our own and other lands. I told 
them that the Society was then attempting to place 
a copy of the Word of God in every family in our 

country ; that Mr. K , a venerable and honored 

class-leader, had been appointed to canvass their 
county ; and that either by sale or gift he would sup- 
ply every family in the county with the Bible that 
would receive it. All of these facts were new to the 
most of them, and were listened to with the greatest 
interest. Large numbers of them had no Bibles in 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 73 

their families ; they were more than sixty miles from 
a book-store, which many of them never visited, and 
they were glad to have the Bible brought to their 
own doors, and furnished to them at so small a price. 
By making these statements I gave the Bible-distributor 
an introduction to the people scattered over a wide 
extent of country, which prepared them to welcome 
him to their families and greatly facilitated his labors. 

My brief address was followed by a sermon entirely 
different from those of the preacher I have already 
described, and deserves notice as a type of thousands 
that are preached to the people in the Brush. Scarcely 
a sentence in the sermon was uttered in the usual 
method of speech. It was drawled out in a sing-song 
tone from the beginning to the end. The preacher ran 
his voice up, and sustained it at so high a pitch that he 
could make but little variation of voice upward. The 
air in his lungs would become exhausted, and at the 
conclusion of every sentence he would " catch " his 
breath with an "ah." As he proceeded with his ser- 
mon, and his vocal organs became wearied with this 
most unnatural exertion, the "ah" was repeated more 
and more frequently, until, with the most painful con- 
tortions of face and form, he would with difficulty artic- 
ulate, in his sing-song tone : 

"' Oh, my beloved brethren — ah, and sisters — ah, you 
have all got to die — ah, and be buried — ah, and go to 
the judgment — ah, and stand before the great white 



74 IN THE BRUSH. 

throne — ah, and receive your rewards — ah, for the deeds 
— ah, done in the body — ah." 

From the beginning to the end of his sermon, which 
occupied just an hour and ten minutes by my w^atch, 
I could not see the slightest evidence that he had 
any idea what he was going to say from one sentence 
to another. While " catching his breath," and saying 
" ah," he seemed to determine what he would say next. 
There was no more train of thought or connection of 
ideas than in the harangue of a maniac. And yet m?iny 
hundreds of such sermons are preached in the Brush, 
and I am sorry to add that thousands of the people had 
rather hear these sermons than any others. This " holy 
tone" has charms for them not possessed by any pos- 
sible eloquence. As the preacher " warms up " and 
becomes more animated in the progress of his discourse, 
the more impressible sisters begin to move their heads 
and bodies, and soon all the devout brethren and sisters 
sway their bodies back and forth in perfect unison, 
keeping time, in some mysterious manner, to his sing- 
song tone. 

It seemed sad to me that such a congregation, gath- 
ered from such long distances, should have the morning 
hour occupied with such a sermon. But it was a union 
meeting, the preacher was the representative of his 
denomination, and they would have gone away worse 
than disappointed — grievously outraged — if they could 
not have heard this sermon with the "holy tone," 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 75 

But our basket- meeting was to be signalized by 
an incident always interesting in all countries, in all 
grades of society, among the most rustic as well as 
among the most refined. After the benediction, a part 
of the congregation who were in the secret remained 
upon their seats, casting knowing and pleasant glances 

at each other. My friend W , who, like a good 

many other preachers, and some preachers' wives, 
had faithfully kept a secret that a good many were 
" just dying to know," took his position in front of 
the "stand." A trembling, blushing, but happy pair 
advanced from the crowd, and took their position 
before him. The groom produced from his pocket 
the indispensable license. The dispersing crowd, hav- 
ing by some electric influence been apprised of what 
was going on, came rushing back, and mounted the 
surrounding stumps and logs, forming a standing back- 
ground to the sitting circle. All looked on and lis- 
tened in silence, while the preacher in a strong, clear 
voice proceeded to solemnize the marriage and pro- 
nounce them husband and wife. The scene was strange 
and strikingly impressive. It seemed a wedding in 
JSTature's own cathedral. The day was perfect. Some 
rays from the sun penetrated the dense foliage above 
and fell upon the scene, mingling golden hues with 
the shadows, as the poet, the recently deceased A. B. 
Street, has so beautifully described : 



76 IN' THE BRUSH. 

" Here showers the sun in golden dots, 
Here rests the shade in ebon spots, 
So blended that the very air 
Seems network as I enter here." 

After the usual congratulations and kisses the groom 
withdrew, and reap]3eared in a few moments mounted 
upon a large gray horse. The bride, having gained the 
top of a stump, mounted his horse behind him, and 
the two rode away, as happy and satisfied as they could 
well be. 

The larger congregation of the Sabbath made larger 
demands upon their hospitality; but these demands 
were fully met. The dinner, both under the trees and 
at the cabins, was but a reenactment of the scenes of 
the day before on an enlarged scale. 

In the afternoon Mr. W preached a sensible 

and earnest sermon, like that of the day before. In 
my pocket-diary, written at the time, I have charac- 
terized it as a "thimdering sermon." His voice was 
strong, and capable of reaching the largest congrega- 
tions that he addressed in the open air. This sermon 
concluded the services of the basket-meeting. As the 
benediction was pronounced, three gentlemen on horse- 
back arrived upon the ground. They w^ere a presiding 
elder, a circuit-rider, and a class-leader, on their way 
to conference. They had preached some fifteen miles 
away in the morning, and continued their journey to 
reach this meeting. I knew them all, and had preached 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS, 77 

with and for tliem at their homes. As they were 
strangers to most, if not all, the people, I introduced 
them to the clergymen and others present. They were 
some twenty miles from any hotel or public-house, and 
of course must spend the night with some of these 
people. My host, to whom I had introduced them, 
said: 

" I should be very glad to have you all stay with me, 
but I can't take care of your horses. I have a plenty of 
houseroom, but my stable is full." 

From w^iat I have already said of the numbers who 
dined and lodged with him, it wdll be seen that he had 
very enlarged ideas of the capacity of his house. An 
enthusiastic neighbor, who was about as rough a looking 
specimen of a backwoodsman as I ever saw, stepped 
forward and said : 

" I have room enough for your horses and you too. 
I should be glad to have you all go with me." 

The presiding elder went w^th him, but the preacher 
and the class-leader were claimed by others. 

Before leaving the grounds, it was arranged between 
us that we should all meet at a designated place in the 
morning, and I would travel with them to the confer- 
ence, to which I was thus far on my way. Though not 
an Arminian, but a Calvinist, though not a Methodist, 
but a Presbyterian, I knew that a cordial welcome await- 
ed me as a representative of the American Bible Society. 
I knew that, in addition to this official welcome, I should 



78 I^ THE BRU8IT. 

receive" the warm greetings of brethren beloved, with 
whom I had traveled many hundreds of miles over their 
" circuits," and mingled in all the novel, interesting, and 
eventful scenes in their wild itinerant life. "When I met 
the elder the next morning, I asked him the nature of 
the very ample accommodations that were offered him. 
He said he slept upon the floor, but he did not under- 
take to count the number who shared it with him. 

So ended the various incidents of our basket-meet- 
ing ; but the recollection of it has been among the pleas- 
ant memories of my life in the Brush. 



SOME EXPLANATORY WORDS. 

Perhaps some statement in explanation of this 
" rough " but abounding hospitality of the people in the 
Brush is demanded in justice to those persons and 
places whose hospitality would seem to suffer in the 
contrast. I might enumerate many circumstances con- 
nected with life in a wild, unsettled country that will 
occur to most readers as the cause of this abounding 
hospitality ; but it seems to me that the chief reason 
is the fact that meat, bread, and all their provisions, 
excepting groceries, cost them so very little. They es- 
timate what they can use scarcely more than the water 
taken from their springs. Beef, pork, and bread cost 
them almost nothing. Their cattle run at large, and 
their free range includes thousands of acres of unoccu- 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 79 

pied lands. They grow and increase in tliis manner 
with but little attention or care. The hogs find their 
food in the woods the greater part of the year, and in 
the fall they fatten upon the nuts or " mast." The oak, 
hickory, beech, and other trees that abound in these 
extensive forests afford vast quantities of these nuts, 
which these peoj)le claim for their own hogs, whoever 
may own the land. I knew a man that owned several 
thousand acres of these lands, who sold the nuts on the 
ground to a '' speculator," who drove his hogs upon the 
tract of land to eat them. But the residents were in- 
censed at tliis trespass upon their immemorial privileges, 
and secretly shot and killed so many of these hogs that 
their owner was glad to escape with any part of his 
drove, and leave them possessors of the " mast." The 
method by which these jDCople retain and recognize their 
ownership in the hogs that run at large and mingle to- 
gether in the woods was quite new to me. The owner 
looks carefully after the young pigs, calls them, and 
feeds them, for some days or weeks, until they know his 
voice, and will come at his call. Whatever kind of a 
hoot, scream, or yell it is, they learn to associate it with 
their food, and run at the sound. Sometimes the owner 
merely blows a horn. If a hundred hogs belonging 
to half a dozen men are feeding together in the woods, 
and their owners sound their calls from different hills, 
the hogs will separate and rush in the direction of .the 
sound to whicli they have been accustomed. In this 



80 J^ TEE BR USE. 

manner these people secure for their families, with but 
little trouble, the most abundant supply of bacon. The 
corn, which furnishes the most of their bread, is raised 
with but little labor. After it is planted it is plowed 
or cultivated, and "laid bj " without any hoeing at all. 
If they have enough to feed their hogs a short time be- 
fore killing them, they do not gather this, but turn the 
hogs into the corn-fields, and let them help themselves. 
The drought that caused the famine in Kansas, in the 
early history of that State, extended over this region. 
As the breadth of ground planted here was so much 
greater, the results were not so sad. But there was a 
scarcity of corn such as the people had never known be- 
fore. The price advanced from twenty and twenty-five 
cents a bushel to a dollar and upward, and many were 
unable to procure enough to make bread for their fam- 
ilies. But the " mast " was abundant that fall, and 
there was no lack of bacon. I visited many families 
that lived almost entirely on meat. During the winter 
I met a physician who told me that in his ride among 
the hills he found whole families afflicted with a disease 
that was entirely new in his experience. Upon consult- 
ing his books, he found it was scurvy, the result of liv- 
ing upon little besides bacon. 

With this usually abundant supply of food, which 
on account of the bad roads and the distance from mar- 
ket has but little pecuniary value ; wath houses and ac- 
commodations such as I have described ; with but few 



OLD-TIME BASKET-MEETINGS. 81 

books, newspapers, and other kinds of reading ; with a 
dearth of the excitements and amusements of the outside 
world, it is not so strange or wonderful that they are 
eager for pleasures and enjoyments that involve these 
displays of hospitality. 

I know that my statements often appear incredible to 
many of my readers. But I trust that, after these " ex- 
planatory words," I shall not tax too largely either the 
faith of my readers or my own character for veracity. 



CIIAPTEE VI. 

THE BAPTISM OF A SCOTCH BABY IN THE WILDS OF THE 
SOUTHWEST. 

I WISH to give my readers the details of a very pleas- 
ant incident in my experiences, quite incidental to my 
sj)ecial work. I visited a small county-seat village in 
a very rough, wild region, where I had been directed to 
call upon a Methodist gentleman, who would render me 
efficient and cheerful aid in the prosecution of my labors. 
I met with the reception that had been promised, and 
made arrangements to preach " on the next day, which 
was the Sabbath." As the agents of the American Bible 
Society are chosen from the different religious denomi- 
nations, they very naturally asked me with what church 
I was connected. When told that I was a Presbyterian, 
the gentleman and his wife turned at once to each other, 
a smile of unusual joy overspreading their features, and 
the lady, who was the first to speak, said : 

" Well, Mr. and Mrs. Dinwiddle will be gratified at 
last." 

The conversation that followed, and other visits and 



A BAPTISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 83 

conversations in the neighborhood, fully explained their 
joy at seeing me. The gentleman and lady alluded to 
were Scotch Presbyterians, who had been in this country 
but a few years, and they were very anxious to have 
their first-born child baptized by a minister of their own 
church. They, and a venerable man eighty-four years 
old, w^ho had recently come from a distant part of the 
State to spend his declining years in the family of a 
widowed daughter, were the only persons in the county 
connected with that church, and they knew not when 
they might be favored with a visit from one of their 
own ministers. But, judging from the past history of 
the county, their prospects were dark indeed. A vener- 
ated father in this church, who w^as alive at the time of 
my visit, but has since gone to his reward, had preached 
in this county more than thirty years before on one of 
his missionary excursions through the State. I met 
those who had heard him preach and remembered his 
sermons. As far as could be ascertained, he was the last 
Presbyterian clergyman w^ho had visited and preached in 
the county, and they knew not when to expect another. 
I subsequently saw this venerable preacher, and received 
from his own lips most interesting details of his explor- 
ations of these wild regions so many years before. 

A week or two passed before I was able to visit this 
family, during which time I preached in rude log school- 
houses, in a ballroom, a court-house, from a "stand" 
erected for the purpose in the forest, and also standing 



84 IN^ TEE BRUSH. 

on terra firma at the foot of an oak-tree, the congrega- 
tion being seated npon benches, or on the ground, nnder 
the shade of surrounding oaks. In the different neigh- 
borhoods that I visited, I found the same general inter- 
est in behalf of this family and their child. According 
to a Scottish custom, they would not call their child by 
the name that had been chosen for it until that name 
had been given to it in the sacred rite of baptism. 
When asked by their neighbors the name of their child, 
they would reT)ly, " Oh, she has no name. She has not 
been baptized yet. We call her 'Baby,' or some pet 
name." This seemed very strange to the people, and 
the dear little child that was growing up without a name 
besame the object of general sympathy and interest 
throughout the county. 

There is quite a celebrated watering-place (where my 
mare won the two hundred and fifty dollars) some fifteen 
miles from their forest home, and it was thought that 
there might be some Presbyterian clergyman among the 
visitors during the summer season, and a large number 
of persons had promised this family that they would let 
them know if any such clergyman arrived at the Sj)rings, 
that they might send for him to baptize their child. 

As soon as I was able to do so, I set out to visit this 
Scotch family, in whose history I had become very 
deeply interested. A Christian brother, residing at the 
county -seat and belonging to another denomination, 
kindly consented to accompany me, and show me the 



A BAPTISX m TUB SOUTHWEST. 85 

way to tlieir residence. Our route was not over a road 
that had been laid out by a compass, but was the most 
of the w^ay through the woods, winding its zigzag course 
over hill, and valley, and stream, among the tall mon- 
archs of the forest. It was a hot day in August, but the 
dense foliage above us, as we rode through the '^ aisles of 
the dim woods," protected us from the heat of the sun, 
and our ride was altogether a pleasant one. After travel- 
ing some twelve or fifteen miles, we reached a " dead'- 
ning," and soon were at the door of the log-cabin we 
were seeking. 

I will not attempt to describe the joy of that young 
mother when my attendant introduced me to her as a 
Presbyterian clergyman, and explained the object of our 
visit. " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when 
the desire cometh it is a tree of life." Years had passed 
since, a young and blooming bride, she had left the 
heathery hills of Scotland for a home in our Western 
wilds ; but, until that moment, she had not seen a minis- 
ter of the church of her home and her choice since the 
day that her loved pastor had solemnized that rite in 
which she gave herself to another, and sent her forth 
with the warm blessings of a pastor's heart. The loneli- 
ness of their forest home in a land of strangers was at 
length cheered by the tiny echo of a new and welcome 
voice in their rude dwelling. For many long months 
the " joyful mother " had gazed upon the sweet face of 
her lovely child, and longed, with unutterable longings, 



86 I^ TEE BRUSH. 

to dedicate lier lirst-born to God in liis own appointed 
ordinance. As the months rolled on and swelled to 
years, the many friends of her home in Scotland min- 
gled their sympathies with hers ; and the pastor, who 
conld not forget the lamb that had thus gone forth from 
his iiock, expressed his strong desire to stretch his arms 
across the broad Atlantic, and baptize this child of the 
forest into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. At the time of our arrival the hus- 
band and father was absent from his house, attending to 
his flocks. He was a shepherd, and had selected his 
home here because for a small sum he could purchase a 
large tract of land over which his flocks might range. 
As his wife did not know in what direction he had gone, 
and he could not easily be found, we determined to wait 
until he should return. 

In the mean time we learned that the young mother 
we had found in the wilds of the Southwest was born 
in the East Indies, and had been sent to Scotland when 
eight years old to be educated among her relatives. We 
listened to the story of the religious privileges they had 
enjoyed at home ; heard of the old pastor wdio, for more 
than flfty years, had watched over the same flock, a vol- 
ume of whose sermons and sacramental addresses made a 
part of their library, and learned to love the youthful 
colleague and subsequent pastor. "VYe were shown what 
was at the same time a certificate of marriage and 
church -membership:), certifying that "William D 



A BAPTISM IJSr THE SOUTHWEST. 87 

and Marj R were lawfully married on , and 

that they immediately thereafter started for America. 
They were then both in full communion with the 
Church of Scotland, and entitled to all church privi- 
leges." We were also shown that most appropriate of 
bridal gifts from a pastor — a beautiful Bible, presented 

as a parting gift to "Mrs. William D , with best 

wishes for the temporal and spiritual welfare of herself 
and her husband. II Chronicles, xv, 2 ; Psalms, cxxxix, 
1-12." How strikingly appropriate these references ! 

At length the father returned, and added his warm 
welcome and greeting to that we had already received 
from the mother. They had both evidently received 
that thorough religious training so peculiar to their na- 
tion, and here, far away from their native heath, in their 
wild forest home, it was exerting its influence, not only 
upon them, but upon many around them. That very 
morning a neighbor had sent them word that a Pres- 
byterian clergyman (the writer) had preached at the 
Springs a few days before, and at once a younger brother 
was dispatched with a large farm- wagon, their only con- 
veyance, to bring the stranger to their home, that he 
might baptize their child. Our route in going, and his 
in coming for me, were the same, but we failed to meet 
each other on account of the numerous tracks through 
the woods. On reaching the county-seat from which we 
had started in the morning, he learned that, to the joy of 
the neighborhood, we had already left for the purpose of 



88 I^ THE BRUSH. 

baptizing tlie cliild. lie immediately turned back, hast- 
ened home, and reached there soon after the arrival of 
his brother. A neighbor, an old acquaintance from their 
home in Scotland, and a family domestic, now made our 
number just that of those to whom Koah, that "preacher 
of righteousness," undoubtedly ministered after they en- 
tered the ark. 

The necessary preparations for the baptism were soon 
made. In the center of that low-roofed cabin a cloth of 
snowy whiteness was spread upon a table, upon which a 
bowl of water was placed. That little company then 
arose, and reverently stood while, after a brief address to 
the parents, the simple, solemn ordinance of baptism was 
administered, and parents, child, and friends far away, 
were commended in prayer to a " covenant-keeping " 
God. The sacred stillness of that calm evening hour, 
the associations of a home far away, and the tender mem- 
ories of the instructions of other years that clustered 
around these strangers, rendered the simple service most 
impressive, and pervaded all with solemn awe. We 
could but feel that he who had said to Abraham, " I will 
be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee, in their 
generations, forever," had " bowed the heavens and come 
down"; and that he would ratify in heaven what had 
now been done on earth in the name of the Sacred Trin- 
ity. The hapj^y mother pressed her fair-faced, beautiful 
child to her bosom with unwonted joy, and never did 
the sweet name Mary sound sweeter than when, with 



A BAPTISM IN' THE SOUTHWEST. 89 

maternal fondness, she gazed into its clear blue eyes, and 
again and again, with alternate kisses, called her " Sweet 
Mary," "My Mary." 

This was my first baptism ; and the privilege of ad- 
ministering this Heaven-ordained rite, in circumstances 
like these, was compensation for months and years of 
such toils as they must endure who labor amid the moral 
desolations of our Western wilds. 



CHAPTER YII. 

barbecues; and a bakbecue wedding - feast in the 
southwest. 

The barbecue was an established institution in tlie 
Southwest. It had in no other part of the country so 
many devotees. There was a charm in the name that 
would at any time call together a large concourse of peo- 
ple, on the shortest notice, and for any occasion. And 
the savory smell of roasted ox, sheep, shoats, turkeys, 
rabbits, or whatever else was prepared to appease the ap- 
petite of a crowd, would keep them together to hear the 
longest political speeches, listen to the most protracted 
school examinations, give their attention to the most 
elaborate expositions of the importance of some project- 
ed turnpike or railroad, and secure a patient waiting and 
an unbroken audience on any occasion when the harbe- 
ciie feast was to be the agreeable conclusion. 

I have a most distinct and vivid recollection of my 
first view of the process of barbecuing a whole ox. At 
the close of a long, hot day's ride, I had stopped to 
spend the night at a small and very inferior country 



A BARBECUE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 91 

taveriio On the opposite side of the road, immedi- 
ately in front of it, there was a large forest. As I 
took my accustomed walk to the stable, to see that 
my horse was properly fed and cared for, before retir- 
ing for the night, I was attracted by the glimmerings 
of a fire among the tall, large forest-trees in the dis- 
tance ; and then I saw through the darkness the dusky 
forms of negroes moving among the trees, and hov- 
ering around some strangely concealed fire, only the 
gleams of which I could see. Ordinarily such a light in 
the woods or at the roadside would not have attracted 
my attention. The sight was a matter of daily and 
nightly occurrence. But it was usually wagoners, or 
movers, or travelers of some kind, camping for the night 
and cooking their supper. A very large proportion of 
the people that one met traveling with their own teams 
in the Southwest were entirely independent of all hotels 
and houses of entertainment. They had a long, narrow 
box attached to the hind end of their wagons, that 
served as a manger in which to feed their horses. When 
night overtook them, they hitched and fed their horses 
in the rear of their wagons. They then lighted a fire, 
and needed little besides a frying-pan and coffee-pot to 
prepare a supper of bacon, corn-dodgers, and coffee, to 
which hunger and good digestion gave a relish such as 
pampered and sated epicures never know. Almost in- 
variably their wagons were covered with coarse brown 
duck-cloth or canvas, which was stretched over hoops, and, 



92 I^ TEE BRUSH, 

if not provided with tents, they made their beds under 
this covering. Wagoners who transported goods, flour, 
and other commodities long distances, as well as movers 
and others, usually traveled in company, so that whenever 
they camped for the night, w^hich they usually aimed to 
do near some spring or brook, they presented a very 
picturesque and animated scene. The view which at- 
tracted my attention had none of these accessories and 
surroundings, and I strolled into the woods to see wdiat 
it might be. On arriving at the spot my curiosity was 
abundantly gratified and rewarded. I saw for the first 
time an immense ox in the process of being barbecued. 
And this was the process : A large trench had been 
dug in the ground, about six or seven feet wide, eight or 
ten feet long, and four or five feet deep. This trench 
had been filled with the best quality of beech or maple 
wood from the body of the trees. This had been set on 
fire and burned until there was left a bed of burning 
coals, some two or three feet deep, that did not emit a 
particle of smoke. The slaughtered ox had been laid 
completely open, and two large spits, about eight feet 
long, had been thrust through each fore and hind leg 
lengthwise, and four negroes or more, taking hold of the 
ends of these spits, had laid the ox over this trench above 
this bed of burning coals. There the bovine monarch 
lay, cooking as beautifully as in my childhood I had 
seen many a turkey, suspended by a long string, swing- 
ing before the large wood-fire that was burning and 



A BARBECUE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 93 

blazing upon the ample hearth of our family kitchen. 
And it was upon the same principle — the juices were 
all cooked in. The negroes were gathered around the 
ox, with large swabs upon long sticks, with which they 
incessantly "basted" it, with a liquid prepared for 
this purpose and standing in large kettles on either 
side of the trench. From time to time the large bed 
of coals was stirred, and occasionally they performed 
the difficult feat of turning over the entire ox, so 
that each side might be cooked at an equal rate of 
progress. This work they greatly enjoyed. There was 
enough of the wild and strange about it to gratify 
their excitable natures. For the time being they were 
supremely happy. The stillness of the night, the 
surrounding darkness, and the gleams of that large and 
brightly burning bed of coals in the overhanging tree-tops, 
gave to the whole scene a weird character which awoke 
all the enthusiasm of their untutored natures. Through 
the long night they cheerfully plied their task, stirring 
up from the depths the live burning coals, and " basting " 
and turning the ox as often as was necessary. Frequent- 
ly they sang those strange, wild African songs that they 
are accustomed to improvise while at work and upon 
all kinds of occasions, and as they echoed among the 
forest-trees and floated out upon the night-air, the soft, 
sweet melody was most enchanting. As I left to go to 
my room for the night, and turned to look back upon 
them from the darkness, the strange scene seemed not 



94 IN THE BRUSH. 

unlike a company of Druid priests offering a sacrificial 
victim in some grand old English forest. In the morn- 
ins: I made them another visit. Manv of the coals had 
turned to ashes, and the bed was much reduced in depth. 
But when the negroes put in their long poles, they 
stirred up an abundance of bright coals from the bot- 
tom. The ox, which had been placed over the fire at 
sundown the night before, was to be cooked until noon, 
w^hen the grand barbecue dinner was to be eaten. The 
smaller animals, such as sheep and shoats and the va- 
rious kinds of poultry, were to be placed over the fire 
in time to be nicely cooked by this hour. At that 
time every portion of the ox would be thoroughly 
done to the bone ; not baked and burned and dried, but 
made more juicy and tender and sweet than any one 
has ever once dreamed that the best of beef could be 
who has not eaten it cooked in this manner. I have 
never, at the most magnificent hotels, or the most lux- 
urious private tables, eaten any kind of meat, poultry, 
or game that was so rich, tender, and agreeable to the 
taste as that barbecued in the manner I have described. 
This was a political barbecue, at which several 
distinguished speakers, candidates for various ofi^ices, 
w^ere to address the people. But my engagements for 
preaching, and other duties connected with my mis- 
sion the next day, were such that I was compelled to 
leave immediately after breakfast. I could not hear 
the speeches, see the long tables, made of rough 



A BARBECUE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 95 

boards, spread under the forest-trees, participate with 
the immense throng in their barbecue dinner, and 
witness and enjoy all the strange and varied scenes 
and incidents inseparably connected with such a gath- 
ering of all the *' sovereigns " in the Brush. But wdiat 
I have said will suffice to give my readers the modus 
operandi of a barbecue. It will be seen that it is the 
simplest possible manner of preparing a dinner for a 
large concourse of people. It requires neither build- 
ing, stove, oven, range, nor baking-pans. It involves 
no house-cleaning after the feast. It soils and spoils 
no carpets or furniture. And in the mild, bountiful 
region where the ox and all that is eaten are raised 
with so little care, the cost of feeding hundreds, or 
even thousands, in this manner is merely nominal. 
Hence barbecues have been for a long time so com- 
mon and popular in the Southwest. There have been 
unnumbered political barbecues, wdiere the eloquence 
peculiar to that region has been developed, and where 
vast audiences have been moved by its power, as the 
trees beneath which they were gathered have been 
swayed by the winds. In the published life aiid 
speeches of Henry Clay are several that were deliv- 
ered at different barbecues, where he addressed the 
people on state and national *aff airs, with an eloquence 
and power equal to, if not greater than, that with which 
he enchained the Senate. There have been barbecues 
in connection with school-examinations, and Sabbath- 



96 IN THE BRUSH. 

school celebrations where educational and religious 
topics have been discussed. There have been barbe- 
cues in connection with meetings in favor of turn- 
pikes, railroads, and all kinds of internal imj)rove- 
ments. There have been uncounted barbecue-dances, 
and barbecues for more occasions than I can name. 
But of all these I will only describe a large wedding, 
that was succeeded by a barbecue-supper, that I had 
the pleasure of attending. 

I had spent the Sabbath at a small county-seat vil- 
lage, and on Monday morning my kind friend and 
hostess said to me: "We are to have a large wedding 
on Thursday night of this week, and, if possible, you 
must stay in the county long enough to attend it. Mr. 

C 's only daughter is to be married to Mr. E , 

our county clerk, and, as Mr. C is a widower, I 

leave home this morning to go and assist them in 
their preparations." 

As I was obliged to visit several persons in differ- 
ent parts of the county, on business connected with 
my Bible work, I planned my rides so as to reach the 

neighborhood in which Mr. C resided on the day 

appointed for the wedding. I received a cordial wel- 
come from my lady friend, who was installed as pre- 
siding mistress for the occasion, and from the father 
of the bride, to whom she introduced me. He was 
an old and highly esteemed citizen of the county, and 
a warm personal and political friend of her husband. 



A BARBECUE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 97 

It was on account of these relations between tlie fam- 
ilies, and purely as an act of neighborly kindness, that 
she had left her own home to take charge of his fam- 
ily, and direct his servants during this, to them, 
eventful week. He belonged to the dominant party, 
and had represented his fellow-citizens in the Legis- 
lature of the State. Tall in stature, plainly dressed, 
mostly in home-made jeans, of simple, unstudied man- 
ners, his kind face and Avarm heart bespoke a man to 
be revered and loved by his neighbors and by all to 
whom he was known. He was in comfortable but 
not affluent circumstances — in the vernacular of the 
region, "a good liver." His house was of the prevail- 
ing style of architecture for the better class of plan- 
tation-houses in the Southwest and South. It was a 
two-story frame, with a wide hall or '' passage " through 
the middle of it, and a chimney on each end, built 
outside of the house. In the rear, and communicating 
with it, was a log building, which had probably been 
the home of his early married life, in which the sup- 
per-table was to be spread for this occasion. Early in 
the afternoon the guests began to arrive. A few from 
adjoining counties, and from the greatest distance, 
persons of wealth and high social position, came in 
carriages ; but by far the greatest number, both of 
ladies and gentlemen, arrived on horseback. The 
ladies almost invariably had a carpet-bag or sachel 
hung on the horn of their saddles, in which they 



98 I^ TUB BRUSH. 

brought the dresses in which they were to grace the 
occasion. A horseback-ride over such roads, and 
through such mud and clay as most of them had 
come, w^ould not leave the most becoming w^edding 
attire in a yqyj presentable condition. Hence these 
arrangements to " dress " after their arrival. As they 
rode up, many of them with calico sunbonnets and 
l)utternut - colored riding-dresses, such as I have else- 
where described, and bespattered with mud, they 
looked more like bands of wandering gypsies than 
wedding guests. But the best of colored w^aiting- 
maids, from near and remote plantations, were in at- 
tendance, who took charge of the sachels, and of 
their young misses, and conducted them to some capa- 
cious dressing-room. Here each maid was anxious that 
her young " missus " should eclij)se all the others, and 
under the manipulations of these ambitious servants 
they emerged from the room transformed, if not to 
wood-nymphs and fairies, at least to a becomingly 
attired and very bright and happy throng. 

It w^as often very interesting to me to witness the 
solicitude and jjride of these family servants in the ap- 
pearance made and the attentions received by their 
young mistresses, and the art which they frequently 
displayed in aiding or defeating matrimonial alliances 
that were agreeable or otherwise to them. This w^as 
often a very important matter to them, as it involved 
the question whether they were to have a kind or an 



A BARBECUE m TEE SOUTHWEST. 99 

unkind master. If the suitor pleased them, they poured 
into his ears the most extravagant praises of their 
young "missus," and waited upon him with the most 
marked attention and delight. But if they knew that 
his temper and habits were bad, and thought he would 
make an unkind master, they did not fail to repeat, 
in ears where it would be most effective, all that they 
knew to his discredit. In this manner they have aided 
in making and defeating many matches. 

As the sun declined, the arrivals increased until the 
numbers swelled to scores, to fifties, and, when all had 
assembled, there were in and around the house more 
than two hundred. It was a genial, hapjDy throng. All 
were in the best possible humor. There were pleasant, 
kindly greetings between the old, and frolic and flirta- 
tions among the young. At about nine o'clock the 
wedding ceremony was announced, and as many of the 
guests as possible assembled in the largest room. The 
bride and groom, with bridesmaids and groomsmen be- 
comingly attired, entered the room where we were gath- 
ered, and the ceremony was performed by a clergyman 
of the neigliborhood, which was followed by the usual 
congratulations and greetings. 

But there had been barbecuing and cooking of all 
kinds for days before, and very soon we followed the 
bride and groom with our ladies to the supper-room. 
The tables were arranged diagonally across the room 
from corner to corner, in the form of the letter X, 



100 ^N THE BRUSH. 

so as to accommodate tlie largest number. There was 
the greatest abundance of barbecued meats, and poultry 
of different kinds, with a variety of cakes, pies, and 
everything else to make a hearty and bountiful feast. 
This was enjoyed with the keenest relish by all those 
who had gained admittance to the supper-room; and, 
when their appetites were fully satished, they retired 
to give place to others. These in turn gave place 
to others, and so tableful succeeded tableful for hours. 
While the feasting was going on, the others were en- 
joying themselves in conversation and general hilarity. 
]^ot a few occupied the large porch, and enjoyed a 
smoke and social chat. I sat down here and had a long 
talk with the father of the bride. He told me that, 
after inviting his particular friends, legislators, mem- 
bers of the bar, and others, from adjoining counties and 
distant neighborhoods, he had put a negro boy upon a 
horse and directed him to go to every family, rich and 
poor, within a circle of a few miles around his home, 
and invite them all to the wedding. I think that very 
few that could possibly get there had remained at home. 
It was a thoroughly promiscuous crowd. It embraced 
all ages and all grades of people that the region pro- 
duced, and all seemed equally to enjoy the gathering, 
as they were free to do in their own way. Some time 
after midnight I gratified my curiosity by going into 
the sup23er-room and asking my lady friend, who was 
the mistress of ceremonies, if she had any idea how 



A BARBECUE IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 101 

many persons had already taken supper. She re- 
plied : 

"I had not thought of that, but I can easily tell. 
The table has been set each time with thirty-two plates, 
and this is the fifth tableful." 

And still others were waiting, and after them all the 
colored servants were to have their feast — in all, more 
than two hundred. 

Later in the night a gentleman residing in the neigh- 
borhood invited me and several other gentlemen to go 
home and lodge with him. Before leaving, my lady 
friend came to me, and said : 

" You must come back here and get your breakfast 
in the morning." 

I replied : 

^' Is it possible that you will have anything to eat 
after feeding this great crowd ? " 

" Oh, yes," said she, opening a door, and directing 
me to look into a room where the provisions were 
stored ; " we have five barbecued shoats that have not 
been touched yet." 

"We mounted our horses, and rode through the dark- 
ness to my lodging-place for the night. Beds were 
soon divided and scattered over the floor, making pal- 
lets enough for each of us. The wife of my hospitable 
friend, with the most of the ladies in attendance, re- 
mained at the house and slept in this same manner, 
covering the floors of the different rooms. Husbands 



102 IN THE BRUSH. 

and wives were generally separated that night, the gen- 
tlemen going to the different houses in the neighbor- 
hood to sleep, as we had done. When we arose in the 
morning, my host said : 

"We shall all have to go back to get our break- 
fast. There is not a knife, fork, or dish in the house. 
They are all at the wedding." 

This was the condition of most of the houses in the 
neighborhood. When we returned, we found a large 
company and an abundant breakfast. After mingling 
with the departing guests for a time, I renewed my 
congratulations and good wishes for the hapjDy pair, 
and bade good-by to my kind friends, greatly pleased 
with this entirely new experience at a wedding. 

Such is a simple, unadorned narrative of a wed- 
ding, with its barbecue feast, at which I was a guest 
in the Southwest. How unlike those that I have at- 
tended in our largest cities ! But who shall say at 
which there was the greatest and most universal happi- 
ness, whether where wealth and fashion held high car- 
nival, or at this more simple and primitive gathering 
and feasting of old neighbors and friends in the South- 
west ? 



CHAPTER YIII. 

THE OLD, OLD BOOK AND ITS STOEY IN THE WILDS OF 
THE SOUTHWEST. 

I HAVE never known sucli remarkable and pleasing 
results follow the reading of the Bible, without any hu- 
man help, as among the ignorant people I have visited, 
living in wild and neglected regions in the Brush. I 
propose in this chapter to give a detailed account of the 

results that followed its presentation, by Mr. J. G. K , 

to families living among the hills upon the head-waters 
of a stream that I thought was rightly named " Rough 
Creek." Mr. K was a venerable and faithful Bible- 
distributor, sixty- four years old, and he loved, above ev- 
erything else, to go from house to house with the "Word 
of God, and strive by simple, earnest exhortation and fer- 
vent prayer to lead souls to Christ. While prosecuting 
his labors in this neglected region, he found in one 
neighborhood sixteen families out of twenty without a 
Bible, and supplied the most of them by gift. 

This region of country was exceedingly wild, broken, 
and inaccessible, there being no main public road lead- 



104 IN TEE BRUSH. 

ing to it. The liills were liigli and steej), tlie valleys 
narrow, and the people were scattered along the creeks 
and over the hill-sides, with no other roads leading to 

them than neighborhood paths. Mr. K told me that 

he never could have found all these families had not a 
young man who was born in the vicinity (who had since 
become a Methodist preacher) volunteered to accompany 
him as a guide. He had hunted deer, foxes, wildcats, 
and other game over these hills until he knew every 
locality and path. Entering these rude, humble cabins, 
they explained the nature of their work, supplied the 
families with the Word of God by sale or gift, and then, 
after kindly and earnestly urging upon them the worth 
of the soul and the importance of securing at once an 
interest in Christ, they bowed with them in prayer, and 
humbly and earnestly besought God's blessing upon 
them. There was a strange interest in these visits. The 
voice of prayer had never before been heard in many of 
these dwellings. Though their visits were so strange 
and unusual in their nature, they were everywhere kind- 
ly received, the mild, benignant face of the venerable 
distributor making him everywhere a welcome visitor. 
Where will not a face full of geniality and smishine se- 
cure a welcome for its possessor ? 

As he was concluding his prayer at one of these cab- 
ins, the old man, who had been absent, returned, and 
hearing the strange sound in his house, cried out, in as- 
tonishment, " Walce^ snakes ! " But, on going into the 



THE OLD BOOK IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 105 

house when the prayer was concluded, our visitor re- 
ceived him with a smile, explained to him the nature of 
his visit, and at once made a personal religious appeal 
to him. The old man treated his visitor very kindly, 
though he seemed to be in a very jocular mood, and re- 
plied to most of his remarks with some playful speech. 
But when his visitor left he went out with him, and as- 
sisted him in getting on to his horse, and invited him to 
call again whenever he should pass that way. But gen- 
erally their exhortations were listened to with deep so- 
lemnity and awe, and their visits evidently made a deep 
religious impression upon the neighborhood. 

JSTot many weeks after these visits of Mr. K , re- 
ports were received that several persons in this neighbor- 
hood had been hopefully converted ; and for a year or 
more I was almost constantly hearing from various sources 
of the wonderful work of grace that was going on there. 
The statements in regard to the number and character of 
the conversions were so remarkable that I was unwilling 
to make them public until I had made a personal visit to 
the neighborhood, and seen w4th my own eyes what God 
had wrought. I subsequently made that visit, and can 
truly say that the half had not been told me. My pow- 
ers are not equal to the work of giving an adequate de- 
scription of the great change that had been wrought 
through the power of God's Word and Spirit, but I will 
give some of the main facts. 

I arrived at a house to which I*had been directed. 



106 IN' THE BRUSH. 

near this neighborhood, about midday, having traveled 
for miles in the foot-paths that led from one cabin to 
that of the next neighbor. Where the path was blind 
and difficult to follow, the people would often send a lit- 
tle boy or girl along to show me the way. On making 
myself known as a preacher, and the agent of the Amer- 
ican Bible Society, I was at once greeted with the usual 
question, " Won't you preach for us to-night ? " 

I gladly assented, as I had made the journey to 
learn the real condition of things, and I was anxious 
to see as many of the people as possible. Word was 
at once sent over the hills in different directions that 
I would preach that night in a log-house that had 

been erected since the visit of Mr. K for a 

school and meeting house ; and shell - bark - hickory 
torches were at once prepared to light me and the 
hospitable family that entertained me to and from 
the place of meeting. This house was upon a hill in 
the midst of the woods, and at some distance from 
any clearing, having been placed there on account of 
its central position in the neighborhood. Though the 
notice was short, and the night dark, and all who 
came had to make their way by torchlight through 
the forest, the house was well filled, and it was a real 
pleasure to unfold and enforce the truths of the 
Gospel, in simple language, to a group whose solemn 
stillness and attention showed that they listened in- 
deed as to a message from Heaven. 



TEE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 107 

At tlie close of our services it was a rare and 
beautiful sight to see the audience disperse from that 
rude sanctuary, some on foot, and some on horseback 
— a father, mother, and three children upon a single 
horse — the oldest child in front of the father, the 
second behind the mother, and the third in the 
mother's arms, their flaming torches lighting up the 
grand old forest, as they set out for their homes with 
parting words of Christian hope and cheer. 

In the prosecution of my inquiries I learned that 
the first person wdio had been converted in the neigh- 
borhood, after the visit of Mr. K , was Mr. Jake 

G , who had received a Testament in the follow- 
ing manner. When Mr. K and his guide were 

making their visits, they called at a house where 
there were eight children, and the parents were both 
gone from home. On inquiring of the children if their 
parents had a Bible, they said they did not know — 
meaning, undoubtedly, that they did not know what 
a Bible was. 

Without dismounting, they gave the children a 
Testament, and told them to give it to their parents 
when they came home. 

Xot long after this the guide who accompanied 

Mr. K met the man at w^hose house they had left 

the Testament, and he immediately said : " I'm mighty 

sorry I was not at home wdien you and old man K 

were around with them books, for I'm mightily 



108 IN THE BRUSH. 

pleased witli the little book you left at my house. 
Joe II told me you had some bigger ones" (Bi- 
bles) " at his house, and if I had been at home I 
would have got one of them bigger ones sure; for 
I'm mightily pleased with the little one. I can't read, 
and my wife and children can't read ; but Brother 
Joe's wife can read, and she comes over to our house, 
and we get her to read out of that little book; and 
it's mighty pretty reading. I've heard reading afore, 
but I never heard any reading afore that I wanted 
to hear read again. But that little hook I do tahe to 
inightily. Brother Fred's wife can read, too, and we 
get her to read out of the little book ; and everybody 
that comes to our house that can read, we get them to 
read out of that little book ; and — / don't hiow what 
it is — I never heard any such reading afore ; every 
time they read to me out of that little hooh it malces 
me cry^ and I canH help itP 

I have already said that this man was the first 
person who was converted in the neighborhood after 
the visit of the Bible-distributor. They read ^Hhat 
little hooh " until he and his wife, and those two brothers 
and their wives, became savingly acquainted with its 
truths, and they, with many others in the neighborhood, 
became the humble and devoted followers of Christ. I 

learned that this Mr. Jake G , who had received and 

who now loved his " little book," as I have described, 
belonged to a family remarkable for their ignorance and 



THE OLD BOOK IJST THE SOUTHWEST. 109 

irreligion. Though lie had eight children, his grand- 
father was yet alive, more than ninety years old, and 
still a very hardened sinner. He had come to this neigh- 
borhood from southwestern Virginia more than thirty 
years before. He had had eighteen children, thirteen of 
whom lived to marry, and nine of whom were settled 
immediately around him. ]S"one of his children could 
read a word except two of the youngest, who had at- 
tended school a little after leaving Virginia, and, though 
all of them had large families, all of them were without 
the Bible hiit two. One son and one daughter had mar- 
ried persons who had a Bible. The two Bibles that had 
been obtained by marriage were the only Bibles in this 

large family connection when Mr. K visited the 

neighborhood and supplied them all. 

The father of the man who had received the Testa- 
ment was sixty-two years old; had reared a family of 
nine children, not one of whom nor himself could read, 
and all of them had grown up and married but two ; and 
that large family had never owned a Bible. The mother 

could read, and Mr. K gave her a Bible. I^ow she 

and her husband and six of their children were num- 
bered with the people of God, and though unable to read 
were humble learners at the feet of Jesus. 

The morning after my sermon, accompanied by a 
small boy, w^hom my host kindly sent along as a 
guide, I rode through the woods and over the hills to the 
house of Mr. Jake G , where, several months before, 



110 IN THE BRUSH. 

the "little book" had been left by the Bible-distributor 
and his guide. He was among my hearers the night be- 
fore, and I had sought an introduction to him, had a 
short conversation with him, and told him I would come 
and see him in the morning. I was particularly anxious 
to spend a few hours with him in his own home, and get 
the story of the great change that had been wrought in 
himself and in the neighborhood, from his own lips, and 
in his own genuine Brush vernacular. 

There is to me a strange interest and pleasure in 
hearing one whose soul has been thoroughly subdued by 
the power and grace of God, who as yet knows little of 
the Bible, and less of the set phrases in which religious 
thoughts arc usually communicated, give expression 
to the warm and glowing emotions of his soul, in lan- 
guage all his own. There is often in these recitals the 
highest type of simple, natural eloquence in the singu- 
larity, the quaintness, and the power of the language 
used. 

As I rode up the hill-side and hitched my horse to 
the rail-fence in front of his log-cabin, he came out to 
meet and welcome me. But there was not that warmth 
of cordiality with which he had shaken my hand the 
night before. As I entered the house with him and 
took a seat, he remained standing, and walked about the 
floor continually, with an uneasy, troubled air. He was 
a very tall man, was barefooted, and his only dress was a 
shirt and pantaloons. After some little conversation, he 



TEE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. HI 

turned to me and said, " How much does that little book 
sell for?" 

I could not imagine why he asked the question, but 
replied at once, " Only a dime, sir." (The Bibles and 
Testaments were sold as near the cost - price in ]^ew 
York as possible, but as no pennies were used in any 
business transactions in all this region, we were obliged 
to sell this Testament, costing six and a fourth cents, for 
a dime.) 

He did not make any response to my answer, but, 
after some further conversation, which I tried to keep 
up, he came and stood directly over me, and said, in a 
very sad tone of voice, " Well, sir, I have only got half 
enough to pay for that little book, but if I had the 
money I'd pay ^yq dollars before I'd give it up." 

Understanding at once that he supposed I was on a 
collecting tour, and that this was the cause of my visit 
and all his trouble, I said, " Why, sir, did you suppose I 
had come to get the pay for your little Testament ? " 

" H'ain't you ? " asked his wife eagerly, a slight smile 
of hope passing over her earnest, expressive face. 

" Why, no, indeed," said I ; " that book was given to 
you. The Bible Society gives away a great many Bibles 
and Testaments, and all they want is to know that peo- 
ple make good use of them." 

" Well, I declare ! " said she, her face all radiant with 
joy. "We've been right smartly troubled about it all 
the morning. I knew we hadn't got money enough to 



112 IN' TEE BRUSE. 

pay for it, and I didn't know what we should do. I 
wouldn't give it nj) for nothing. I know none of ns 
can't read any, but we get it read a mighty heap. I love 
to have it in the house, whether we can read or not. 
Thafs the little looh we''re trying to go hy now^ and 
whenever they gets together the first thing is to get out 
the little book, and it seems like they never get tired of 
it." 

That was one of the most moving and beautiful trib- 
utes of affection and love for the Word of God to which 
I have ever listened. I see her now through the lapse of 
years, her bright, black eyes and her face all aglow with 
joy, as she sat at one side of her fireplace in that com- 
fortless cabin. The chimney, made of sticks and mud, 
and standing on the outside of the house, had leaned 
away from the opening that had been cut through the 
logs for the fireplace, and left a large open space through 
which and the logs the winds blew upon her back about 
as freely as through a rail-fence. Where the brick or 
stone hearth should have been, there was only a bed of 
ashes and a few smoldering fire-brands. Two beds on 
one side of the room and a few rough articles of house- 
hold furniture numbered all the comforts of their one 
apartment. Such were her surroundings, and yet I had 
made her one of the happiest mortals I have ever seen. 
As I looked into her black, expressive eyes and her 
bright face, which must have been beautiful in earlier 
years, it was hard to believe that she could not read a 



TEE OLD BOOK IN TEE SOUTEWEST. 113 

word — that she had never learned a single letter of the 
alphabet of her mother-tongue. 

" Well," said an old man, who thus far had sat quite 
mute, " I'm sure my old woman makes good use of hers ; 
she reads it about half the time. I believe she would 
go crazy if you should take her Bible away." 

This old man, with his hair hanging down to his 
shoulders, his powder - horn, pouch, and other hunting 
equipments hanging at his side, had entered the house 
with his gun in hand just as I rode up, having appar- 
ently just returned from a morning hunt. I now learned 
that he was the father of the man at whose house I was 
— the man in whose family so great a change had been 

wrought since Mr. K had given his wife the Bible. 

After I had satisfied them that they were not to lose 
their Testament and Bible, all tongues were unloosed, 
and I wish it were in my power to give in detail the con- 
versation that followed. 

"Can't you stay and preach for us to-night?" said 
the old man. "We can send word around, and you'll 
have a house full. I want to hear you mightily. We 
didn't sleep any last night, hardly. Jake came home 
from meeting so full, and he was trying to tell us about 

the sermon. You ought to stay and see the G s ; 

you ought to hear them sing and pray." 

I consented to preach again most gladly, and after 
full consultation among themselves as to whose house 
in the neighborhood would hold the most people, and 



114 IJ^ TEE BRUSH. 

arrangements had been made for circulating the notice, 
they all sat down and listened intently while I read to 
them out of the "little book," explaining the portions 
read as I would attempt to explain them to an infant- 
class in a Sabbath-school. I remember that the great 
change wrought in themselves and their neighbors seemed 
an incomprehensible mystery to them. So, looking out 
of the open door of their cabin and down the hill-side, I 
pointed them to the tops of the large forest trees that 
were swaying to and fro in the wind, and said : 

" You see all those trees in motion, but can not see 
anything moving them. And yet you know what it is. 
You know that it is the wind. You can not see it, but 
you can hear its sound." 

I then opened their " little book " (for I had pre- 
ferred to read to them out of their own prized treasure, 
that they might be sure, after I was gone, that they had 
in their possession all that I had read and explained to 
them), and read to them the story of the conversation of 
Christ with Nicodemus, calling their special attention to 
the passage : " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is every 
one that is born of the Spirit." 

This passage was apparently new, and made the 
whole matter wonderfully clear to them, affording them 
the most intense pleasure and satisfaction. So I read, 
and they listened to these simple comments, for an hour 



THE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 115 

or more with expressions of the deepest interest, and 
would evidently have listened thus for hours. We then 
all bowed upon our knees, and, after I had prayed, Mr. 

Jake G , at my request, offered a prayer, such as he 

offered daily as he assembled his children around that 
family altar ; a prayer so broken, so humble, so sincere, 
as to move the stoutest heart. I wish I could give the 
w^hole of it ; but I only remember the first sentence, 
" O Lord, we bow down to call on thy name as well 
as we know how." 

I spent the rest of the day with the old man, visiting 
different families, and in his own, reading the Bible to 
them, praying with them, and listening to their simple 
details of the wonderful change that had been wrought 
among them. Their own statements in regard to the ex- 
ceeding ignorance and irreligion of the community cor- 
roborated the accounts I heard of them in all the country 
around. 

" I've known a heap of people," said the old man, as 
we left the house, and started off through the woods, 

" but I never did know as bad a set as the G 's " (his 

own family). " Every one of my boys played the fiddle, 
and every one of my children had rather dance than eat 
the best meal that could be got. Every one of my boys 
played cards and gambled. Every one of them would 
go to horse-races and shooting-matches, and get drunk, 
and fight, and get into all kinds of scrapes. And my 
boy Dock — that ain't his name, but that's what we all 



116 I^ THE BRUSH. 

call him — I do wisli you could hear Dock pray now — my 
.boy Dock used to get drunk and have fits [delirium 
tremens], and when he was gone to a shooting-match or 
a log-rolling, or any such place, I'd go to bed at night, 
but I couldn't go to sleep. I'd just lie and wait to hear 
him holler, and I've gone out many a night and brought 
him into the house out of the most awful places. And 
Sundays — wdiy, I didn't hear a sermon in fifteen years. 
Sundays my yard was filled with people who came from , 
all around here, and jumped, and played marbles, and 
shot at a mark, and frolicked, all day long. And sucli 
a thing as a hime " (hymn), continued the old man, 
" singin' himes or pray in', why, there wa'n't no such 
thing in all the neighborhood. When they first began 
to hold meetings around, there wa'n't nobody to raise the 
tunes. Now they know a heap of himes, and sometimes 
Jake leads the meetin', and sometimes Dock, and you 
ought to hear them all sing and pray now." 

So the old man talked on, giving his simple narrative 
of these and a great many other facts, until at length we 
came to a log-house. This was the place where I was to 
preach that night, the home of a brother — the old man 
that had shouted " Wake, snakes ! " at hearing Mr. 

K pray. He had since died, and died unconverted, 

and the account that the old man gave of the death of 
this brother was most touching. As his case grew more 
and more hopeless, those of his children and relatives 
who had been converted felt the deepest interest for 



THE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST 117 

him, talked with him as well as they knew how, and 
prayed with him ; but all apparently in vain. 

" I watched him from day to day," said the old man, 
" until I saw there was no hope for him. I knew that 
he must die. and I knew that he was not prepared. I 
shook hands with him, bid him good-by, and turned 
away from him, and thought I had no time to lose. I 
determined to try and get religion at once, and be pre- 
pared for death." 

When at length his family and friends had gathered 
around his bed to see him die, his youngest daughter, 
that had lately been converted, who was about eighteen 
years old, but could not read a letter, agonized at the 
thought of his leaving the world unprepared, rushed 
forward, knelt at his bedside, and gave vent to her emo- 
tions in a prayer such as is rarely offered. Those who 
heard it were most of them as illiterate as herself, and 
incompetent to describe it ; but from their accounts the 
scene was solemn, and the effect overpowering to all 
except the dying man. As she arose from her knees, he 
opened his eyes, and said, faintly, " I never expected that 
[to hear a prayer] from one of my children," and in a 
few moments breathed his last. During my visit here I 
asked this young lady if she could read. She replied : 

" Oh, no, sir ; I was always too industrious to take 
time to learn to read." Her arms were colored to above 
her elbows, where she had had them in the dye-tub, pre- 
paring the " butternut-woolsey " for the family use. 
6 



118 IN THE BRUSH. 

From this place the old man took me to his own 
honse. As we went up to the door, his wife stood with 
her back to ns, washing dishes, and he rapped at the 
door. She turned her head so as to see us both, but 
did not move her body or say a word. He then 
said : 

" Old woman, see here ! " (pointing to me), " here is 
a man that has come to get your Bible." 

Looking at me a moment, she responded: 

*' You talk too much," and resumed her work. 

"We then entered the house, and he informed his wife 
and daughter who I was and that I was to preach that 
night. After I had talked with them a while, it was pro- 
posed that I should again read and explain the Bible to 
them. At his son's house, as they had all been so wicked, 
I had read, among other portions, the account of the per- 
secutions and the conversion of the Apostle Paul, and 
given them a simple sketch of his subsequent history, 
and then pointed out the parts of the " little book " that 
this man who had been so wicked had been inspired 
to write. This story was almost if not entirely new 
to them, and they were greatly interested in it. 
When the family were seated, and I was about to read 
to them, the old man said to me : 

" Can't you read that again that you read up at 
Jake's ? That about — thai? — that — that what do you call 
him?" 

"Paul," said I. 



THE OLD BOOK IR THE SOUTHWEST. 119 

" Yes, Paul, Saul, Paul. Eead that about Paul. If 
that don't hit the nail on the head better than anything 
I ever heard afore ! " 

I, of course, consented, and went over the story 
again for the benefit of his family, and the facts seemed 
to lose none of their interest to the old man by their 
repetition. Having spent all the time desirable in read- 
ing and praying with this family, there were still a few 
hours, before the preaching service began. Shall I intro- 
duce my readers more fully to this home in the Brush, 
and tell them how this time was passed ? The house con- 
tained but a single room. The daughter of w^hom I have 
spoken was about eighteen or twenty years old, tall and 
large, wore a butternut-colored w^oolsey dress that she 
had probably spun and woven, and was barefooted. I 
had not been long in the house before she retired from 
their only room, in which I sat, and in honor of my 
arrival reappeared in another dress. I do not know 
where she made her toilet, only that it was the same 
ample and magnificent dressing-room first used by 
Mother Eve. The material of the dress in which she 
appeared was old-fashioned cheap curtain calico, with 
waving stripes some two or three inches wide running its 
entire length. Preferring perfect freedom and the com- 
fort of the cooling breezes to considerations that would 
have been influential with most of my lady readers, 
in thus making her toilet she had chosen to remain 
stockingless and shoeless. A massive head of dark- 



120 IN' THE BRUSH. 

brown hair, cut squarely off and pushed behind her 
ears, hung loosely down her neck. 

When the dishes were washed and all the after- 
dinner work accomplished, and she was prepared to sit 
down and enjoy the conversation, she took from the 
rude mantle-tree above the fireplace a cob-pipe, and 
filled it with home-grown and home -cured tobacco from 
an abundant supply in a large pocket in her dress. 
Lighting her pipe, she took a seat at the right of her 
father, while I occupied a chair on his left. Soon large 
columns of smoke began to rise and roll away above her 
head as gracefully as I have ever seen them float around 
the head of the most fashionable smoker with the most 
costly meerschaum. Bending her right arm so that she 
could clasp the long stem of her pipe with her fore- 
finger, she rested the elbow in the palm of her left 
hand. Then, placing her right limb across her left 
knee, she swung the pendent foot slowly, as if in 
meditative mood, and yielded herself to the full enjoy- 
ment of her pipe and our conversation. Her name I 
should have said was Barbara. She was of a quiet, 
taciturn disposition, and rarely said anything, except 
as she was appealed to on some matter by her proud 
and happy father. 

I have met some people who were so ignorant in 
regard to rustic manufactures that they did not know 
what a '' cob "-pipe was. For the sake of any that may 
be similarly uninformed, I will describe one. It is 



THE OLD BOOK IJSF THE SOUTHWEST. 121 

made by taking a section of a common corn-cob some 
two or three inches in length, and boring or burning 
out with a hot iron the pith of the cob some two thirds 
of its length, and then boring or burning a small hole 
transversely through the cob to the base of the bowl 
already made, and inserting in this a small hollow reed 
or cane for a stem. These pipe-stems are long or short, 
from a few inches to two or three feet, according to the 
preference of those who are to use them. I have often 
been told by old smokers that no pipe was as pleasant 
or sweet as a cob-pipe. The great objection to them 
is that they have to be renewed so frequently. 

Seated as I have already described, the hours passed 
away to the evident satisfaction of my entertainers. It 
is not an easy matter to maintain a conversation for sev-. 
eral hours with those who have never read a word of 
their mother-tongue. Their stock of ideas is necessarily 
rather limited. But a very large experience in mingling 
with this class of people had given me such facilities that 
I was evidently already installed as a favorite in the fam- 
ily. I asked a great many questions in regard to the 
children and grandchildren, which were answered with 
the interest which always pertains to these inquiries. At 
length the old man returned the comj^liment by in- 
quiring very particularly into my own family affairs. 
When pressed upon this subject, as I almost universally 
was by families in the Brush, I was compelled to tell 
them that my family was very small — as small as possible 



122 IN THE BRUSH. 

— just that of the Apostle Paul ; in plain language, that 
I was that quite unusual character, a clerical bachelor. 
The old man was astonished. I think he was gratified. 
His face glowed with some new emotion. He was evi- 
dently willing on our short acquaintance to receive me 
as a son-in-law. Turning his pleased, animated face to 
me, and leaning forward in his chair, he lifted his right 
hand, and, pointing with an emphatic gesture to his 
daughter, said : 

" Well, ]Dreacher, my gals is all married but Barbara 
here, and she is ready, sir." 

Miss Barbara retained her hold upon the long stem of 
her cob-pipe, and smoked on, wellnigh imperturbable at 
this sudden culmination of affairs, though I think that, 
like myself, she was somewhat startled and moved, for I 
could see an evident increase in the swinging movement 
of her still pendent right foot. 

But I must pass over other and interesting inci- 
dents of the day. Night came, and with it the con- 
gregation that had been promised. Temporary seats 
had been provided, and the log -cabin was closely 
packed. As the last of the company were arriving, it 
began to sprinkle, and as our services progressed the 
rain fell in torrents. There was grandeur in the storm 
as the wind howled among the trees and the rain beat 
upon the roof but a few feet above our heads. As 
the most of the company could not read, and all were 
very ignorant, my sermon was as simple as I could possi- 




Well, Ppeacher, my gals is all married but Barbara here, 
and. she is ready, sir." 



THE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 123 

blj make it. It was listened to with an eager interest, 
reminding me of tlie words of tlie prophet : " Thj words 
were found, and I did eat them ; and thj word was unto 
me the joy and rejoicing of mj heart." Those simple 
babes in Christ had as yet no idea of a meeting without 
special efforts for the conversion of the impenitent ; and,. 
in response to my appeal made after the sermon, a little 
girl, some twelve or fourteen years old, came forward to 
be prayed for. As she started, the audience were greatly 
moved. She was the great-grandchild of the hoary- 
headed and hardened sinner who had raised his large 
family as I have already described, and who still lived 
and looked on unmoved at the wonderful work God was 
doing among his children and his children's children. 

She was the eldest daughter of Dock G , and after 

I had instructed her and pointed her to Christ as 
best I could in these circumstances, and several prayers 
had been offered for her, her father knelt by her side 
and poured forth the yearning desires of his bur- 
dened soul in her behalf. It was a prayer of con- 
fession of parental unfaithfulness, of thanksgiving for 
what God had already done, and of earnest, importu- 
nate wrestlings for one that was a part of himself and 
must live for ever. It was a prayer such as I had never 
heard before. I did not wonder that his father had said 
to me in the morning, " I do wish you could hear Dock 
pray now." Though he could not read, his mind was 
evidently of a superior order, and the language of his 



124 IN' TEE BEUSE, 

prayer was not sucli as lie had acquired bj hearing oth- 
ers pray, but was entirely his own. It was deeply affect- 
ing to hear such familiar thoughts, uttered in language 
so strange and unusual. 

As the rain continued to pour in torrents and the 
night was fearfully dark, the meeting was continued to a 
late hour, and I was gratified in hearing them sing and 
pray a long time. Their hymns were mostly those that 
they had learned by hearing them sung by others, and 
their prayers were the simple, earnest utterances of those 
who seemed evidently to have been taught of God. At 
length the meeting closed, and though the rain still 
poured without abatement, and the night was fearfully 
dark, several of the company, who had left young chil- 
dren at home, started out in the storm to make their way 
home through the woods and across swollen streams by 
following, without torchlight, their winding neighbor- 
hood paths. But the most of the congregation remained 
until near midnight, when the rain abated and it became 
lighter. Others now started for home, some on foot and 
some on horseback, to find their way through the forest 
for two or three miles, up and down hills and across 
streams, where I had found it a difiicult matter to make 
my way by daylight. With a number so large that I did 
not undertake to count them, I spent the night in their 
cabin, and received from the family the kindest treat- 
ment it was in their power to bestow. 

First of all, at the close of the meeting, the cob, 



TEE OLD_ BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 125 

clay, and all other pipes were brought out, and fam- 
ily and guests sat down to enjoy a social smoke and 
chat. Though I have spent so many years where to- 
bacco is grown and almost universally used, though I 
have enjoyed the hospitality of a great many families 
where the mothers and daughters both chewed and 
"dipped," I have never learned to use the weed. 
Though I do not smoke, I have very often been most 
thoroughly smoked. In this company of social smok- 
ers, composed of old men and young men, old women 
and young women, I was more favored than I have 
often been in the most elegant apartments of the most 
magnificent dwellings. The fireplace, several feet long, 
filled with ashes, made an ample spittoon, and the 
large " stick " chimney, aided by the winds that circu- 
lated freely through the cabin, afforded what I have so 
often wished for — an ample funnel for the escape of the 
smoke and fumes of the tobacco. Uncultivated as this 
company was, it was evident that they were gifted with 
capacities for enjoying the weed equal to those of the 
most refined circles I have ever met. 

Having smoked to their satisfaction, and the hour 
of midnight being passed, I was pointed to a bed in one 
corner of the room which I was to occupy. I had 
not been in it long before some bedfellow got in to 
share it with me. I soon discovered that it was my 
would-be father-in-law, and that he slept with his boots 
on — I suppose to save the trouble of drawing them off 



126 T^ THE BRUSH. 

and on. IIow or where the rest of my congregation 
slej)t, I do not know, for, on getting into bed, I had 
turned my face to the log wall, and, being exceedingly 
wearied with the labors of the day and the night, I 
was soon oblivious to all around me, and lost in sleep. 
When I awoke in the morning, my friend, who had 
shared the bed with me, and who had evidently awaked 
some time before, greeted me with the friendly salu- 
tation : 

" How dy, partner ? " his boots, at the moment, greet- 
ing my vision as they extended beyond our bed blank- 
ets or quilts. 

After breakfast, I bade good-by to the kind friends 
whose rough but generous hospitality I had thus en- 
joyed, with many thanks on their part for my visit, 
with many regrets at my departure, and with repeated 
requests that I w^ould visit and preach for them again. 
But my farewell here, as in thousands of other cases, 
was a final farewell. I was not to meet them again, 
except, as is so often sung, in one of their wild, favor- 
ite religious songs: 

'' "When the general roll is called." 

During this visit I learned that about a hundred 
persons had been converted in this neighborhood since 
the visit of the Bible-distributor. Among them were 
about thirty members of the family to which I have 
so often alluded, in which this good work had its com- 



THE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 127 

mencement in the reading of that little Testament. 
There had formerly been no regular preaching in the im- 
mediate neighborhood, but a Cumberland Presbyterian 
minister had preached once a month in a private house 
not far from them. It was the house to which I had 
been directed, and the family who had so kindly enter- 
tained me and circulated the appointment for my first 
sermon in the neighborhood. The preacher was the 
faithful man of God who had preached and officiated 
in the marriage at the " basket-meeting in the Brush " 
wdiich I have already described. He had changed the 
place of holding his meetings, and preached regularly 
once a month in the new log-house in which I preached 
on the night of my arrival. In addition to his regular 
services, he had held protracted meetings, and his ear- 
nest and devoted labors had been greatly blessed in carry- 
ing forward this remarkable work of grace. Methodist 
preachers had also visited the neighborhood at differ- 
ent times, and held meetings at which numbers had 
been hopefully converted. All who had made a pub- 
lic profession of religion had united with these two 
denominations, and there was the utmost peace and 
harmony among them. The dark spirit of sectarian- 
ism seemed as yet to have found no place among them, 
and all who beheld them were compelled to say, as 
should be said of all those of different names who pro- 
fess to be the disciples of Christ, "Behold how these 
brethren love one another." 



128 I^ THE BRUSH. 

At tlie time of my visit and for some months be- 
fore, the only regular preaching in the neighborhood 

was that once a month by Mr. W , the Cumberland 

Presbyterian minister. But they held a prayer-meet- 
ing which was conducted by themselves on all the other 
Sabbaths, and once during each week. At these meet- 
ings they read the Scriptures, and sang and prayed, 
and with tearful eyes and warm and glowing hearts 
rehearsed to their friends and neighbors the simple 
story of the love and grace of God as it had been mani- 
fested to them. To those who had been familiar with 
their former lives, there was a convincing, an almost 
resistless, power in their services, and they had often 
been owned of God in the salvation of souls. Many 
had been induced to come long distances to attend these 
meetings, and had gone away, saying, " Surely this is 
the work of God, for only his power could enable such 
people to offer such prayers." I was told that even 
the little children had caught the prevailing spirit, and 
had commenced a '^play" that was entirely new in the 
neighborhood. When their parents were gone to night- 
meetings, as they often were, the little children who 
were left at home alone entertained themselves by play- 
ing "meeting" — going through with all the services 
as they had seen them at the meetings they had attended 
with their parents. I tried to learn of one mother — 
the one who was so grateful that she was not to lose 
her " little book " — what her children would say at 



THE OLD BOOK IN THE SOUTHWEST. 129 

these meetings, but she could only tell me of one little 
fellow four or five years old, that she pointed out to 
me, who would get up and very seriously repeat over 
and over the words, " Oh, them dear little children in 
heaven ! them dear little children in heaven ! " 

I was very greatly interested in learning from the 
remarks that I heard in both this and the surrounding 
neighborhoods of the uniformity of sentiment in regard 
to the religious character of this work. In a long con- 
versation with a man who had known these people from 
his boyhood, and whose Christian heart had been greatly 
rejoiced at what he had seen and heard, I said : 

'' There must be a very great change among them ? " 

^'Indeed there is," said he, emphatically. "It's a 
smart miracle ! " 

Among all the persons of different classes that I 
saw, I met no one who seemed to doubt in the least 
that it was a genuine work of grace. "It is the Lord's 
doingj and it is marvelous in our eyes." 



CHAPTEE IX. 



CANDroATING; OE, OLD-TIME METHODS AND HUMORS OF 
OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 



I HAVE found no class of people in the Southwest so 
omnipresent as office-seeking politicians. I have visited 
no neighborhood so remote, no valley so deep, no moun- 
tain so high, that the secluded cabins had not been hon- 
ored by the visits of aspiring politicians, eager to secure 
the votes of their "sovereign" occupants. In multi- 
tudes of such cabins and settlements, their first impres- 
sions in regard to me were that I w^as either a sheriff, 
collecting the county and State taxes, or a '^ candidate " 
soliciting votes. The one vocation was as general and as 
universally recognized as an honorable employment as 
the other. If I did not make myself known as a clergy- 
man as soon as I arrived at many of these out-of-the- 
way cabins, I was frequently greeted with the salutation : 

" How dy, sir ? I reckon you are a candidate, stran- 



ger ! " 



Some months preceding each election these aspir- 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 131 

ants for official honors publicly announced themselves as 
candidates for the particular office that thej sought. In 
those States where the election was held the first Mon- 
day in August, these announcements were usually made 
the preceding spring at the February county or 
circuit court. On such occasions the court adjourned 
for the afternoon, and after dinner the crowds in at- 
tendance gathered in the court-house, and, one after 
another, all the aspirants for all the different offices, 
State and national, came before the assembled people, 
announced themselves as candidates, and set forth their 
qualifications for the office sought and their claims upon 
the suffrages of their fellow-citizens. Sometimes half 
a dozen or more would announce themselves as candi- 
dates for the same office. In listening to their speeches 
one would be led to think that the chief excellence and 
glory of our Constitution was that it secured to every 
citizen the right to be an office-seeker. "My fellow- 
citizens, I claim the right of an American citizen to come 
before you and solicit your suffrages," was asserted by 
a great many of these candidates, and very often by 
those who could present but a sorry list of other claims 
for the office sought. 

I have often found these gatherings occasions of the 
rarest interest and sport. On one occasion the candi- 
date's name was Coulter^ and the office sought was the 
county clerkship. The incumbent was a consumptive, in 
such poor health that he had been compelled to spend 



132 Ij^ tee brush. 

the winter in a milder climate, and it was doubtful if 
lie would be able to discharge the duties of his office 
another term. "Mj fellow-citizens," said Mr. Coulter, 
" I am very sorry for Mr. Anderson [who was present], 
our worthy county clerk, sorry that his health is so poor — 
sorry that he was obliged to leave us last winter, and go 
and breathe the balmy breezes of a more genial climate. 
But as he was gone, and there was some doubt about his 
coming back, I did not think it would be out of the way 
to try my Coulter a little. I experimented with it. It 
worked well. I tried it in several precincts. It ran 
smooth and cut beautifully. I am so much pleased with 
the way it works that I am determined to enter it for the 
race." This play upon his name was received with great 
favor. His old father sat upon a table immediately 
under the judge's seat from which he spoke, and gazed 
up at him with open mouth and the most intense paren- 
tal pride and joy. The crowd cheered to the echo, and 
I learned some months afterward that this remarkable 
( ? ) display of wit was rewarded by the clerkship sought. 

In these public speeches, and on all other occasions, 
both public and private, this pursuit of office was always 
spoken of as a " race." The most common remarks and 
inquiries in regard to any political canvass were such 
as these : 

" I intend to make the ' race.' " " It will be a 
very close ' race.' " " Do you think Jones will make the 
^ race ? ' " " Smith has a strong competitor, but I think 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 133 

lie will make the ' race.' " " I will bet you fifty dollars 
that Peters will make the ' race.' '' 

To ^' make the race " was to secure an election. 

On another occasion, I heard a speaker who had been 
a candidate for the same office, and had canvassed his 
county, making speeches in every neighborhood, for 
twelve successive years. Though I saw him very often 
and knew him very well, I never heard him speak but 
once. 

A part of his speech I could not forget. It was as 
follows : 

"Fortunately or unfortunately, my fellow - citizens, 
some twelve years ago I was seized with a strong desire 
to represent my county in the lower house of the Legis- 
lature of my native State. Fellow-citizens, you all know 
me. I was raised among you. I was a poor boy. I am 
a poor man now. I ask you to vote for me as an encour- 
agement to the poor boys of the county, that I may be 
an example to them — that they may point to me and 
say, ' There is a man, that was once as poor as any of us, 
who has been honored with a seat in the Legislature of 
his native State.' I have taught school a good many 
winters, and the boys that I have taught like me. They 
will give me their votes. I have sometimes thought I 
should have to teach school over the county until I had 
taught boys enough to elect me." 

I can not go through with all of his speech, but his 
peroration was too rich to omit : 



134 IN THE BRUSH. 

"My fellow-cifizens, when I look back over the 
twelve years since I became a candidate for this office, I 
feel encouraged. When I look back and think of the 
very few that for years gave me any encouragement, 
and compare them w^ith the numbers that now promise 
me their votes, I am proud of my success. I begin to 
feel that my hopes are about to be realized — that a ma- 
jority of my fellow-citizens will honor me with their suf- 
frages, and that I shall proudly go up to the Capitol 
and take my seat among the legislators of the State. 
But, fellow-citizens, if, unfortunately, I should fail in 
this election, / take the present ojp^ortunity to announce 
myself as a candidate in the next raceP 

This candidate was like the suitor whom the lady 
accepted to get rid of him. Though a large number of 
his fellow-citizens were very intelligent men, they finally 
concluded not to vote against him, and allow him to be 
elected. I afterward saw him in the Legislature, and 
he was certainly superior to some of his colleagues. He 
introduced me to a fellow-member from the mountains 
who could not read or write at all ; and told me, private- 
ly, that he read and answered all the letters that passed 
between him and his family and constituents. Mr. 
George D. Prentice was accustomed to give this legis- 
lator from the mountains an almost daily notice in the 
" Louisville Journal." 

After these public announcements were made, the 
candidates entered upon their work in dead earnest. 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 135 

They often issued printed handbills, announcing the 
days on which they would speak at different places. 
They traveled together, and addressed the same crowds 
in rotation. These political discussions between candi- 
dates for the higher offices, such as governor, member of 
Congress, etc., were often very able and eloquent. Li- 
deed, I have rarely, if ever, heard more able political dis- 
cussions than some of these. "Where they canvassed a 
State or Congressional district together, they spoke in 
rotation, an hour each by the watch, and then concluded 
with half-hour speeches. This gave to each an oppor- 
tunity to answer the arguments of the other. As both 
addressed the same audience, and each was applauded 
and cheered by his own party, they were both stimulated 
and excited to the highest degree possible. ^ Each wished 
not only to gratify his political friends by the ability and 
skill with which he discussed the questions at issue, but 
to secure from the audience as many votes for himself 
as possible. They were like lawyers before a jury, each 
anxious to secure a verdict in his own favor^ I have often 
thought that this method of conducting a political cam- 
paign had many advantages over that which generally 
prevails in the Northern and Eastern States, where a can- 
didate, with no ability to speak, is nominated by a cau- 
cus, and the parties afterward meet in separate mass- 
meetings, and the speakers convince voters that are 
already convinced and annihilate opponents that are 
not there. In this manner neither party has the 



136 ^^ TEE BRUSE. 

opportunity to correctly and fairly represent its views 
to the other. 

But public political discussions made but a small part 
of the labor performed by the great majority of these 
candidates. They solicited the votes of the people in 
private, and on all sorts of occasions. Some of them 
mounted their horses, and went from house to house to- 
gether as thoroughly as if they were taking the census. 
A story is told of two opposing candidates •who spent a 
night together at a cabin. Each was anxious to secure 
the " female influence " of the family in his own favor, 
and one of them took the water-bucket and started for 
the distant spring to get a pail of water, thinking to 
make a favorable impression on the hostess by rendering 
her this aid in preparing the coffee for tlieir supper. His 
opponent, not to be outdone by this master-stroke of 
policy, devoted himself to the baby with such success 
that he won its favor, and succeeded in getting it into 
his arms. The other candidate returned from his long 
walk with his well-filled water-bucket, to see his opponent 
bestowing the most affectionate caresses and kisses upon 
a baby that very sadly needed a thorough application of 
the water he had brought, and to hear him pour into the 
mother's charmed ear abundant and glowing words of 
praise for her hopeful child. The water-bucket was set 
down in despair. It is quite unnecessary to say which of 
the candidates secured the vote from that cabin. 

These candidates were always to be found at all large 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 137 

gatherings of the people. They were to be seen at bar- 
becues, shooting-matches, corn-huskings, gander-pullings, 
basket-meetings, public theological discussions, and all 
sorts of religious and other gatherings of the people. 
Here they were busy shaking hands with everybody, and 
using every possible expedient to win their votes. My 
friend, the late Rev. Dr. W. "W. Hill, of Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, related to me a very characteristic and amusing 
incident illustrating this style of electioneering. 

While rusticating, quite early in his ministry, at a 
somewhat celebrated medicinal spring among the hills, 
he was invited by his host to go with him to a public 
discussion on the question of baptism, that was to come 
off in the neighborhood between two distinguished cham- 
pions, holding opposite views in regard to the " subjects " 

and " mode " of baptism. Judge C , a candidate for 

Congress from that district, who had a very wide reputa- 
tion as a skillful and successful electioneerer, was present, 
as polite and busy as possible, shaking hands with every- 
body, and inquiring with wonderful solicitude after the 
health of their waives and families. At the close of the 
services, or, as the people there would say, " when the 
meeting broke," his host invited the Judge and several of 
his neighbors to go home with him and eat peaches-and- 
cream. He said his peaches were very fine, and his wife 
had saved a plenty of nice cream for the occasion. The 
invitation was accepted, and a very pleasant party ac- 
companied him to his house. When the company were 



138 I^ THE BRUSH. 

seated at tlie table, the Judge found the peaches very 
rare, the cream delicious, and was profuse in his comj)li- 
ments to both host and hostess. At length the host 
said: 

" Well, Judge, what did you think of the discussion 
to-day?" 

"The discussion," said the Judge, glancing up 
and down the table, and speaking as if rendering 
a judicial decision from the bench, " was very able 
on both sides. The preachers acquitted themselves 
most honorably, most handsomely. And yet I must 
say in all honesty that Parson Waller [the Baptist] 
was rather too much for Parson Clarke [the Methodist]. 
He had the advantage of him on a good many points. 
But, then, he had the advantage of him so far as the 
merits of the question are concerned, / think. The 
Greek settles that question. Blahtow may not always, 
in all circumstances, mean 'immerse,' but UaUezer, its 
derivative, means immerse — go in all over — every time. 
There's no getting away from that." 

" What did you say that Greek word was that always 
means ' immerse ' ? " said my friend, the young Presby- 
terian preacher, a recent graduate of Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary, who was sitting immediately opposite 
the Judge. 

"Do you know anything about Greek?" responded 
the Judge. 

"ISTot much," replied the young preacher. 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 139 

"Do yon know anything about it? Have you 
ever studied it at all?" continued the Judge. 

"I have studied and read it some for about a 
dozen years," rejoined my friend. 

The Judge immediately started off upon an episode 
full of anecdote and amusement, and did not get back 
to answer the question in regard to the Greek while 
the company remained at the table. 

The Doctor informed me that, as they left the 
table, he walked off alone into the garden, but was 
soon overtaken by the Judge, who exclaimed : 

" Where did you come from, stranger, and how did 
you get among these hills, a man that has studied 
Greek a dozen years? ITow let me own up. I don't 
know a thing about Greek; never studied it at all. I 
don't know a Greek letter from a turkey - track. I 
am a candidate for Congress, out on an electioneering 
excursion. I knew everybody at the table but you, 
and I saw tbat it was a Baptist crowd. I wanted to 
win their favor and get tbeir votes. I heard Parson 
Smith preach on baptism in the city last winter, and 
I was giving them his Greek as well as I could re- 
member it. Now," said the Judge, with a jolly laugh 
at the ridiculousness of his position, "if you let this 
out on me so that my opponent can get hold of it 
before I am through this canvass, I'll never forgive 
you." 

It is but simple justice to these Baptists to say 



140 IN TEE BRUSH. 

that, had the Judge chanced to dine and eat peaches- 
and-cream that day with a company of adherents 
of the other champion, his predilections would have 
been just as strong in favor of Parson Clarke, and 
he would have marshaled his Greek just as positively 
in favor of "infants" as "subjects" and "sprinkling" 
as the "mode." 

I am sure I shall be pardoned if I interrupt the 
flow of my narrative to speak of what seems to me 
the remarkable fact that, more than forty years after 
the scenes I have just described, I am able to say that 
the "Parson Smith," so named by the candidate as 
furnishing his Greek, was a revered friend whom, 
until quite recently, I had not met for more than 
twenty years ; to whose hospitable home, cheered by 
the bright sunshine of one of the noblest and the best 
of wives and mothers, I was for years welcomed on 
my return from my long horseback journeys, with a 
cordiality as warm, I am sure, as though I had been a 
member of his own ecclesiastical fold or diocese, 
who, now in his eighty-eighth year, resides in l^ew 
York City, the honored and beloved senior Bishop of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 

And I take great pleasure in saying that no 
bishop or member of his own Church or any other, 
who has not, as I have, often met him in his pa- 
rochial journey ings, traveled over thousands on thou- 
sands of miles of the same indescribably rough roads, 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 141 

climbed on horseback the same steep mountain-paths, 
and partaken of the rough but generous hospitality 
of the same rude cabins, can possibly understand 
with what patience, with what energy, with what un- 
conquerable devotion, he has thus toiled for wellnigh 
half a century for the dear Church and the dearer 
Master he has so long loved and served with such 
pure and glowing love. 

One scene in the life of the venerable Bishop is 
worthy of the pencil of the most accomplished artist, 
worthy to be inscribed upon the walls of the na- 
tional Capitol as a comi">anion to Bierstadt's "Emi- 
grants crossing the Plains," illustrating as it does 
the manner in which the heroic heralds of the cross 
have ever accompanied and followed our bold and 
daring emigrants, and in every new State laid, broad 
and deep, the foundations of learning and religion by 
establishing the Chuech and the School. 

Having in his extended parochial travels become 
'painfully conscious of the need of increased efficiency 
in the public-school system of the State, he accept- 
ed, and discharged for two years — 1839 and 1840 — 
the duties of Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
To this work, in addition to his Episcopal duties, he 
devoted himself with untiring energy and zeal, visit- 
ing and making educational addresses in seventy-six 
out of the then ninety-one counties of the State. 
Many of these counties could only be visited on horse- 



142 IN THE BRUSH. 

back, tlie only wheeled vehicle ever seen by the in- 
habitants being the cart in which the laws passed 
by successive legislatures were transmitted to the 
different county-seats. 

On one of these journeys the Bishop found at a 
mountain - inn a Methodist circuit - rider, class - leader, 
steward, and local preacher, assembled for an "offi- 
cial meeting." All hearts beat in the warmest Chris- 
tian sympathy. As, after a frugal meal, the Bishop^s 
horse was brought to the door, and he was about 
to renew his journey, all these heroic Christian 
workers gathered sympathizingly and helpfully around 
him, one holding his horse by the bridle, another 
holding the stirrups, and the others helping him to 
mount. When fairly seated in his saddle, the Bishop 
reverently uncovered his head, and, lifting his hand 
to heaven, said: "Send, Lord, by whom thou wilt 
send, but send help to the mountains ! " to which 
they all responded with a hearty Methodistic "Amen 
and Amen." 

The method of private electioneering by going 
from house to house, or attending such gatherings 
unattended by an opponent, was called electioneering 
on the still hunt. In pursuing the wild game of those 
regions two methods were adopted. Sometimes the 
hunters went in large parties, with horses, hounds, and 
horns, and pirsued and killed their game by these 
public and noisy demonstrations. At other times 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. I43 

they went alone and quietly throngli the fields and 
woods, came upon their game noiselessly, and killed 
it by stealth. This latter method was called by the 
people '•'the still Jiuntr In like manner, the politi- 
cians had two methods of electioneering, as already 
described. The one was by public gatherings and by 
public speeches ; the other was by these more pri- 
vate and quiet measures, to which they appropriated 
this old phrase from the hunter's vocabulary, and 
called " the still huntP I remember on one occasion 
hearing two candidates for the office of sheriff ad- 
dress a crowd in one of the wildest regions in the 
Southwest, each in advocacy of his own claims. One 
of them was quite an effective and the other a very 
indifferent speaker. In a conversation with the for- 
mer, at the conclusion of the discussion, I told him 
that, judging from the speeches, and the responses 
they received from the crowd, I thought his chances 
must be altogether the best for securing the election. 

"■ Ah," said he, " it won't do to judge by the speech- 
es, or to depend upon them to secure an election. My 
opponent is the hardest sort of a man to beat. He is 
powerful on the still hunt." 

Many of these candidates displayed most wonderful 
industry and energy in this "still-hunt" method of elec- 
tioneering. In a conference with the officers of a county 
Bible Society, in regard to the time it would take a Bible- 
distributor to visit every family in the county, for the 



144: IN TEE BE USE 

purpose of supplying them with a copy of the Bible by 
sale or gift, one of them gave his experience in canvass- 
ing the county for the office of prosecuting attorney, 
told how many families he could visit in a day, and said 
he thought it would not take the Bible-distributor longer 
to make his visits than he took to persuade them to vote 
for him. This was a new and very satisfactory method 
of arriving at the time really required for a thorough 
religious canvass of the county. 

The " still-hunt " method of electioneering also de- 
veloped and gave occasion for the display of great tact 
and skill in influencing every variety of mind and char- 
acter. Arguments in regard to the questions at issue 
were often of the least possible influence and importance 
in securing votes.^ A lady, whose guest I was, told me 
that the member of Congress from the district in which 
she resided, who had been reelected a great many times, 
and was at that time Speaker of the House of Represen- 
tatives, had often visited/lier house and neighborhood. 
She said that, when he first began to canvass his district 
for Congress, he always carried his fiddle with him, and 
made very indifferent speeches to the people in the day- 
time, but played the fiddle, greatly to their admiration, 
for their dances at night. His fiddling and dancing, fine 
personal appearance, and wonderful skill and tact in 
mingling with the people and securing their personal 
admiration and favor, were far more effective than his 
speeches, and enabled him to " make the race " against 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 145 

all competitors. He was a remarkable illustration of the 
success of the "still-hunt" method of electioneering. 
"With a most indifferent early education, without a 
knowledge of English grammar at the commencement 
of his Congressional career, he was reelected so often, 
and continued in Congress so long, that he became per- 
fectly conversant with his duties, served on nearly or 
quite every committee, was made chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Ways and Means, became the recognized leader 
of his party, and was ultimately Speaker of the House of 
Representatives through two Congresses — from Decem- 
ber 1, 1851, to March 4, 1855. With these long years 
of Congressional experience, he became a very effective 
stump-speaker, and this, with his " still-hunt " powers, 
enabled him to secure his reelection again and again 
for some thirty years, until he quite wore out the pa- 
tience of the aspiring members of liis own party who 
were anxious for " rotation " in the office. 

After growing gray in the service, he was at length 
beaten by a youthful member of his own party on this 
wise : It was one of the established laws of conducting a 
political canvass of the district that, after the different 
persons had announced themselves as candidates for an 
office, no one of them sliould call a meeting or address 
an audience in any part of the district without notifying 
all the other candidates, that they might have the oppor- 
tunity to be present to answer their opponent and make 
a plea in their own behalf. A young and aspiring mem- 



146 IJ^ TEE BRUSE. 

ber of the party, whose father had grown gray in the 
vam hope of a '^ rotation" in this office in his favor, 
determined to take advantage of this '^ estabhshed law " 
of the party, and, if possible, secure for himself the office 
for which his venerable father had so long: waited in 
vain. He accordingly announced himself as a candidate 
for the office, purchased a very superior horse — there 
was then no railroad in the district — published a list of 
appointments to address the people of the district at 
different places on successive days, but made these ap- 
pointments so far aj)art — some eighty miles or more — 
that it was impossible for his venerable opponent to ride 
the distance. He had complied with the "letter of the 
law," but it was one of those cases where "the letter 
killeth." Young, vigorous, and possessing great powers 
of endurance, he would address the people at one o'clock 
in the afternoon, and then make a long ride far into the 
night if necessary, and start early in the morning and 
ride an equal distance to the next afternoon appointment. 
In this manner he canvassed the district alone. He 
made his speeches and had no one to answer them. He 
had the fullest possible opportunity to tell the people 
how long they had honored his opponent, that he had no 
further possible claims upon their suffrages, and to make 
very earnest and even pathetic appeals in his own behalf. 
His venerable opponent was not present to counteract 
the force of these appeals, either by the eloquence he 
had acquired in Congress, or with his once effective fid- 



0FFIGE-8EEKINQ IN THE SOUTHWEST. 147 

die; and so this son of a disappointed office-seeking 
father not only triumphed in the horseback " race," but 
" made the political race " for the office sought, and took 
his seat in Congress. I heard him make several speeches 
to his constituents, but thought them far less remarkable 
than the John Gilpin features of his political campaign. 

I have already remarked that sometimes as many as 
half a dozen persons would announce themselves as candi- 
dates^or the same office at the opening of a political cam- 
paign. As the canvass progressed, one after another 
would become satisfied that his prospects were entirely 
hopeless, and publicly announce his withdrawal from the 
race. On one occasion I heard a candidate announce his 
withdrawal in a speech that I thought described the con- 
dition of a great many politicians. It was as follows : 

" My fellow-citizens, I came before you at the open- 
ing of this campaign and announced myself as a candi- 
date for sheriff of the county. I now appear before you 
to withdraw from the race. I have a great many friends, 
strong friends. They stand up to me nobly. E'obody 
could wish for better friends. There is only this one 
trouble in my case — I havenH got quite enough of them. 

" I have already gone so far in this race that I don't 
know myself. I have lost myself entirely. When I 
go into the different precincts and hear all the tales that 
they have got afloat about me, and the character that 
they give me, it is somebody that I don't know any- 
thing about — somebody that I never heard of before. 



148 I^ TUB BE USB. 

Fellow-citizens, it isn't me, I assure you, that they are 
talking about. They have mistaken the man. If any 
of you should want to know anything about me, just 
ask the boys in my precinct. They know me. They 
will tell you. They all stand up for me." 

I will relate but one more veritable incident to illus- 
trate political life in the Brush, and to show the expe- 
dients sometimes resorted to by able and eloquent men 
to make sure of an election to an important office. 1 had 
spent a Sabbath and preached in behalf of the Ameri- 
can Bible Society at a small county-seat town upon one 
of the large rivers in the Southwest. While at breakfast 
on Monday morning, the circuit judge of that judicial 
district, w^ho was a resident of the village, sent his col- 
ored boy to the house where I was staying, with the 
message that he had heard that I was going to Big 
Spring that day, and he wished to know whether I 
was going in the morning or afternoon. He said that 
he had expected to go there in the morning, but if 
he could have my company he would defer his ride. 
As I had an appointment to meet the officers of the 
county Bible Society, and attend to the appointment 
of a Bible - distributor, and order Bibles from New 
York for the supply of the county, I sent back word 
to him that I could not close up my business so as to 
leave until afternoon. 

After dinner we mounted our horses and started 
upon our pleasant ride of about twenty miles. The 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 149 

day was pleasant, the distance not great, tlie Judge was 
intelligent and a very fine talker, and I enjoyed the 
ride greatly. In former visits to the village I had 
been a guest in his family, when he had been absent 
from home, holding his courts in distant j)arts of his 
district, so that I had not before become as well ac- 
quainted with him as I was with his family. 

I had been greatly interested and delighted with my 
long conversations with his venerable mother, and on 
her account I was very happy to enjoy this long horse- 
back-ride and pleasant talk with her distinguished son. 
She was one of the most interesting and remarkable 
women I have ever met in any part of our Country. 
She was one among the first white children born west 
of the Alleghanies. Her father had participated in 
the early Indian wars, and her recollections and rehear- 
sals of the thrilling scenes of early border life and 
warfare, were the most vivid and interesting of any to 
which I have ever listened. Born in a frontier cabin, 
with but few neighbors, surrounded by wild beasts and 
Indians, the toils, hardships, and excitements of their 
pioneer life gave little opportunity for education, and 
she told me that her entire school-life was less than 
nine months. And yet I have rarely conversed with, 
any one whose language was more smooth, correct, and 
elevated. The secret of this seemed to lie in the fact 
that she had read and reread the writings of Sir Wal- 
ter Scott until not only all his sentiments and charac- 



150 IN THE BRUSH. 

ters, but his very style, had become her own. She 
would repeat his poetry by the hour with wonderful 
taste and beauty. Scotch blood flowed in her veins, 
and the warmest love of the fatherland glowed in her 
heart. With a wonderful command of language, with 
an easy, elevated, and flowing style, she would for 
liours together relate the thrilling scenes of her child- 
hood, and the varied incidents of her early border life. 
Her admiration of her father, and especially of his 
bravery, was unbounded. I remember the pride with 
which she told me of a visit she once received from 
a veteran hunter and Indian fighter, who had been a 
companion of her father in those early struggles and 
conflicts, and of the fervor of his parting benediction ; 
" Jenny, God bless you, you are the child of a hero, 
as brave as ever shouldered a rifle ! " 

Kind and genial, as full of sunshine as of stories of 
the olden time, beloved by old and young, the evening 
of her life was truly beautiful. Many years have passed 
since I saw the dear old lady, and I do not know that 
she is now alive, but I do know that she has not been 
forgotten. Pier measured, flowing j^eriods still roll on 
in my memory, her quiet, sunny smile beams on me 
now, as when I sat at her hospitable hearth and board. 

I was very happ>y to have an otherwise lonely af- 
ternoon's ride beguiled with the company of the son 
of such a mother. I had never heard the Judge s]3eak, 
either in court or upon the stump; but he had an 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 151 

established reputation as an able lawyer and eloquent 
speaker. I soon found that he had inherited the con- 
versational powers of his mother, and the time wore 
pleasantly away as we rode on. At length our con- 
versation turned upon the present method of attaining- 
judicial and all other offices, and he gave me the follow- 
ing chapter in his own experience, which I reproduce 
from memory. In justice to my friend the Judge, I 
should say that he expressed himself as entirely op- 
posed in principle to an elective judiciary, and gave 
this chapter in his own experience as an illustration 
of tlie way in which even a judicial election could 
be carried. 

" I made," said the Judge, " a very thorough canvass 
of the district with my opponent. We closed our public 
discussions, and I returned home a few days before the 
election, which was to come off on the first Monday in 

August. My opponent was Judge K , whom you 

know as a very worthy man, a perfect gentleman, and a 
superior judge. He was honored by the bar, popular 
with the people, and a very hard man to defeat. He had 
held the office several years. I wanted it, had worked 
very hard for it, and was determined to gain it if possi- 
ble. I looked over the district very carefully, made the 
closest estimate I could, and found I should be defeated 
unless I could make very heavy gains in some precinct. 
It was a desperate case, and I could in honor only elec- 
tioneer on the 'still hunt.' I concluded to mount my 



152 I^ TUB BEU8H. 

liorse and ride to C F , which jou have visited, 

and know is about the most ignorant and uncivilized re- 
gion in the State. I thought it more than probable that 
I would find a barbecue-dance in progress there on Sat- 
urday afternoon, at which all the people in the precinct 
would be present. When I arrived I found a dance in 
full progress in the open air under the trees, and an ox 
roasting over the fire near bj. It was the last of July, and 
very hot and very dry. A perfect cone of dust arose 
above the crowd, in which all the dancers were envel- 
oped. It was a strange, wild scene — a scene to be wit- 
nessed nowhere else but in the wildest portions of our 
southwestern wilds. There were old men and old 
grizzly-headed women, young men and young women, 
parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, all 
mingling together and dancing with backwoods energy 
and wild delight. As I dismounted, hitched my horse, 
and went up and joined those that were looking on, one 
and another saluted mc, very respectfully, with 

"aiowdy. Broadcloth?' 

" As the weather was very warm, I had worn from 
home a black alpaca sack-coat. This was the only devia- 
tion from home-made butternut-colored jeans in the en- 
tire crowd. My black coat, therefore, distinguished me 
from everybody else ; and as I walked about among the 
people the invariable salutation was, 

"'How dy, Broadcloth ? ' 

" I moved around among them very quietly an hour 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN THE SOUTHWEST. 153 

or more, observing all that was going on, and watching 
for the most favorable opportunity to make myself known 
to them and win their favor. At length my course was 
clearly settled in my own mind. I saw what would be 
my opportunity. I could see that the fiddler was already 
so drunk that he would fall off the block, dead drunk 
before a great while. I had learned to play the fiddle 
when a boy. I could take the fiddler's place, and pre- 
vent the calamity of a complete break-up of the dance. 

" His powers of motion failed sooner than I had ex- 
pected, and there was great sorrow in all the company. 
After a while I intimated quietly to some of them that I 
could play the fiddle, and they shouted at the top of 
their voices : 

"^Broadcloth can fiddle! Broadcloth can fiddle! 
Hurra for Broadcloth ! ' 

" ' At once there was a general rush of the company 
about me, all of them imploring me to take the fiddle 
and play for them. I replied, very positively : 

" ' No, gentlemen, I won't fiddle for you ! ' 

"*Why not. Broadcloth? Why not?' they all re- 
sponded. 

" ' I will tell you why not,' I said. ' I came here a 
stranger, and you haven't treated me with any civility at 
all ; you haven't invited me to dance ; haven't intro- 
duced me to the ladies ; haven't made me one of your- 
selves at all ; and I won't fiddle for you.' 

" But they made so many apologies for the past and 



154 I^ THE BRUSH. 

promises for the future that I finally relented, changed 
my mind, and agreed to fiddle for them. This an- 
nouncement was greeted with a general shout of joy. I 
then began to brag in the most extravagant manner pos- 
sible. I told them that, when they saw me draw the 
bow, it would be such music as they had never heard 
since they were born. I took off my coat, unbuttoned 
my shirt, rolled up my sleeves, took the fiddle, and drew 
the bow across it, back and forth, for a minute or two, 
with all my might. They responded to this very noisy 
musical demonstration with a scream and yell of wild 
delight and a ' Hurra for Broadcloth ! ' I took my seat 
and began to play just before sundown, and played — 
until the sun was up the next morning. During the 
night they came around me, and said : 

" ' Who are you. Broadcloth, anyway ? ' 

*' I told them I was a candidate. 

" They shouted : 

" ' Broadcloth is a candidate ! Hurra for Broad- 
cloth ! ' And then asked me what I was a candidate 
for. 

*• I told them I was a candidate for circuit judge, and 
they repeated : 

" ' Broadcloth is a candidate for circuit judge. 
Hurra for Broadcloth for circuit judge ! ' 

" This was as much information as I dared to give 
them in one installment. I did not wish to give them 
any more until what 1 had told them was perfectly fixed 



OFFICE-SEEKING IN TUE SOUTHWEST. 155 

in their minds, so that they would not make any mistake 
when they came to vote on the following Monday. 

" One of them, a Kttle more thoughtful than the rest, 
came to me afterward, and, applying an oath to the party 

to which I belonged, said he hoped I was not a 

. I did not, in behalf of myself or party, resent the 



oath or favor him with any definite reply to his ques- 
tion. I knew that the greater part of the company gen- 
erally voted with the opposite party, and that, enthusi- 
astic as they now were in my favor, too much informa- 
tion on this point would be fatal to my prospects. I felt 
quite sure that neither my opponent nor any of his 
friends would give them this information, and undo the 
work I had accomplished between that time and Monday 
morning. 

" As the morning dawned, in response to the inquiries 
of some of the more enthusiastic of my friends, I gave 
them my name in full, which was greeted and repeated 
in cheer after cheer. 

" When I bade them good-by, mounted my horse and 
rode away, they followed me with their cheers, and 
when out of sight among the dense forest trees I could 
still hear their enthusiastic 

" ' Hurra for S , candidate for circuit judge ! ' 

"When the election returns were announced, every 

vote in the C F precinct had been cast for me. 

That night's work with the fiddle secured my election." 



CHAPTEE X. 

SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE IN THE 

BRUSH. 

Having made arrangements with Father E , a 



venerable and faithful Bible-distributor, to canvass a 
very rough, wild country, I determined to visit the 
county-seat, and address as many of the people as could 
be assembled. I did this for the purpose of explaining 
to them that the entire State and countly were being 
canvassed in this manner, for the purpose of supplying 
every family that would receive it with a copy of the 
Bible, either by sale or gift. As they had been so much 
imposed upon by wandering peddlers, I found it very 
important to explain to them that it was not a money- 
making enterprise — that the books sold were furnished 
to them at cost. It was also my invariable custom to 
solicit a collection for the Bible Society, wherever I 
preached, however i)oor the people might be. It in- 
creased their self-respect to give them this oj)portunity 
to aid in supplying their own destitute poor with the 
Word of God. 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. \^1 

My ride to B , tlie county-seat, was tlirongli a 

rough, wild, and broken region. Tliis may be judged 
from the fact that the average vahie of the land, im- 
proved and unimproved, of tlie entire county, as re- 
turned by the assessors, and published in the Report of 
the Auditor of the State for the preceding year, was but 
one dollar and seventy-nine cents per acre. Even this 
was a little more valuable than the land of an adjoining 
county that I explored most thoroughly, the average 
value of which, as published in the same Report, was 
one dollar and seventy-four cents per acre. Yet these 
counties had been settled more than fifty years. 

Arriving at the little village, a perfect stranger, my 
first inquiry was for some professor of religion who 
would be likely to take an interest in my work, and aid 
me to make arrangements, if possible, to preach there the 
following Sabbath. I was directed by my host to call 
on the school-master of the place, whom I found to be 
an old man more than sixty years of age, who gave me 
a warm welcome, and cheerfully rendered me the de- 
sired aid. Upon inquiry, we learned that the court- 
house, which was the place used by all denominations for 
preaching, would not be occupied the next Sabbath, and 
accordingly it was arranged that a notice should be cir- 
culated that I would preach there on that day, at 4 
p. M. This accomplished, I left the village to attend 
to other duties, aiid await the Sabbath. 

As there was no newspaper at this county-seat, and 



158 IN THE BRUSH. 

but a very few families resided tliere, and only a few 
days intervening, the uninitiated in southwestern back- 
woods life will wonder how the people in the adjacent 
hills and valleys were to be notified of this service and 
a congregation assembled. But I had been long enough 
in the Brush to have no apprehensions upon this point. 
I knew that they would not only all be notified for miles 
around, but that the most of them would be present. I 
have found by experience that it is one of the peculiar- 
ities of the wilder and wildest portions of the country, 
that the people will be at the greatest possible pains to 
notify their neighbors far and near whenever a stranger 
will preach, whatever may be the day of the week or 
the hour of the day. 

I have frequently arrived at a solitary log-cabin, late 
in the afternoon, after a wearisome day's ride through a 
rough, wild, mountainous region, and almost as soon as 
I had made myself known as a preacher, they would 
say: 

" Can't you preach for us here to-night ? " 

" Oh, yes," I have rej)lied ; " but I have seen very 
few cabins for a long way back, and I can't understand 
where the congregation is to come from." 

" "We know that," they have rejoined ; " but there's 
a heap of people scattered over these hills, and if you 
will agree to preach for us to-night, you will be sure to 
have a houseful." 

As soon as my assent was given, father, sons, and 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 159 

daughters have started off in different directions to no- 
tify the nearest neighbors, who immediately abandoned 
their work to inform other and more distant neighbors. 
In this manner all the families over a wide extent of 
country would be notified in a short time. Nearly all 
would abandon their work, and with it all thought of 
supper until they should return, and, taking their chil- 
dren with them, would start at once for the place ap- 
pointed for the preaching. In such cases I have never 
failed to have the promised houseful. Indeed, I have 
traveled on horseback over wide regions of country, 
where, had I sufficient health and strength, I could have 
preached every night to a new congregation assembled 
as thas described. 

I returned to B , and reached the court-house 

at the appointed hour. The announcement that they 

would be addressed by a preacher from L , the 

largest city in the State, had drawn together an unusu- 
ally large audience. Before commencing the services, I 
was introduced to the county judge, who was also a Bap- 
tist preacher. He, with others, had been informed of my 
coming, and kindly came to the county-seat, and gave me 
the sanction and aid of both his ministerial and judicial 
presence. He very naturally assumed the jDosition of 
master of ceremonies, and introduced me to his Chris- 
tian brethren and " fellow-citizens," who not only hon- 
ored him as their spiritual shepherd, but had elevated 
him by their suffrages to his judicial position. He po- 



160 I^ THE DRUSE. 

litelj escorted me to tlie judge's seat, which was my 
pulpit, and sat with me there during tlie services. This 
" seat " was simj)ly a high, narrow platform at the end 
of the room, extending entirely across the court-house, 
with a railing in front of it, and supplied with benches 
and a few chairs. 

I can not here adopt the very common and conven- 
ient expedient of writers, and say that the dress and 
general apj^earance of my congregation can be more 
easily imagined than described. In sober truth, kind 
reader, granting to your imagination the very highest 
power, I am constrained to believe that you are entirely 
unequal to this task. There was very little if any 
foreign texture there. Their dresses, coats, and other 
garments had, almost without exception, been spun on 
their own wheels, woven in their own looms, dyed in 
butternut from their own hills, and made and fashioned 
in accordance with their own taste without consulting 
any fashion-plates. As they were bound by no rules, 
there was variety, and there were very marked displays 
of originality. Best of all, there was comfort, and 
patriotic instincts were gratified by the exhibition of 
domestic fabrics. It was a rare display of woolsey. 

In addressing such an audience the speaker was 
always gratified and rewarded by the closest attention. 
I have never seen such listeners as the people in the 
Brush. They gave a speaker not only their ears but 
their eyes, and their whole attention. They seemed 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 161 

unwilling to lose a word that lie uttered ; tliej yielded 
themselves to his power. Their faces moved and 
glowed responsive to his sentiments ; and his own mind 
was animated and enkindled by this sympathy of his 
audience. I suppose the chief reason of this very 
marked attention was the fact that the most of these 
people read very little, and very many of them could 
not read at all. Hence they acquired the most of their 
information on all subjects, religious and secular, by 
being good listeners. Preachers and politicians, the 
pulpit and the stump, were their chief sources of edu- 
cation. The school and the press were comparatively 
powerless. Political, theological, and all other contro- 
verted questions were settled in the minds of the peo- 
ple by oral discussions. Henry Clay once presided over 
a theological discussion between the Rev. Alexander 
Campbell, the founder of the sect popularly known as 
" Campbellites," and the Rev. Dr. K. L. Rice, of the 
Presbyterian Church, which was continued through sev- 
eral days, and attended by a large concourse of people. 
This debate was but a type of hundreds, probably of 
thousands, that have been held in all parts of the South- 
west. Let either a Calvinist or an Arminian challenge 
the other to discuss the question of the " Perseverance 
of the Saints," or " Falling from Grace," and, however 
remote and wild the region, the people for miles around 
would abandon work and business, and attend for da^^s 
upon the discussion. Such debates on the question of 



162 IN THE BRUSH. 

Baptism liave drawn crowds together in this manner 
times without number. Any petty lawsuit would bring 
together the most of the peoj)le in the neighborhood, 
to hear the speeches of the opposing pettifoggers or 
lawyers. County and circuit-court days were the great 
days of the year, when the people left their homes en 
masse^ and went up to the county-seat in neighborhood 
cavalcades, and hour after hour, and day after day, lis- 
tened to the speeches of the oj^posing counsel. In cases 
of unusual interest and excitement, such as a murder 
trial, I have known a very general turnout of the 
wives and daughters, and have seen them sit for hours 
together and listen to such speeches. As already de- 
scribed in a previous chapter, j^olitical discussions on 
all questions, State and national, were still more univer- 
sal and popular, and stump-speeches delivered to these 
crowds did more to decide the minds of the people in 
regard to the questions discussed than newspapers and 
all other causes combined. 

This fondness of the people for public discussion, and 
speeches upon all sorts of subjects, and the remarkable 
attention they give to a speaker, have done very much to 
develop the peculiar and often very remarkable oratory 
that prevailed in these wild regions. Their speakers 
w^ere so stimulated by the attention given them, and by 
the visible effects produced by their words, as to draw 
out all their powers. While they molded the minds and 
opinions of the people, the people molded their peculiar 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 1C)S 

style of oratory. They acted and reacted upon each 
other. 

It is impossible for a man to become animated and 
eloquent in addressing an inattentive, listless, stolid audi- 
ence. I remember hearing in New England a story of 
the olden time, when, to avoid cooking a Sunday dinner, 
a pan of pork and beans was put into the hot brick oven, 
after taking out the bread and pies that were generally 
baked on Saturday afternoons. The pork and beans 
were baked in this manner, and taken from the oven for 
the Sunday dinner. An old divine, remarkable for his 
eloquence and wit, on one occasion " exchanged " with a 
brother clergyman whose parish was noted for the pro- 
duction of white beans. 

" How did you like preaching for my people ? " said 
the latter, as the two met some time afterward. 

" It did very well in the morning," said the witty 
divine ; " but in the afternoon it was exactly like preach- 
ing to so many bags of baked beans." 

It is not at all strange that in these times there are a 
good many dull pulpits. There are so many audiences 
that, either from their minds being absorbed with busi- 
ness or other thoughts, or from sheer mental and physi- 
cal stupidity, are as irresponsive and as little stimulat- 
ing to a speaker as "so many bags of baked beans." 

But I had no such fault to find with my audience on 
this occasion. Had there been any inattention, the fault 
would have been my own. The fact that I hailed from 



164 IN THE BRUSH. 

the great city to which they sent their tobacco and other 
products — the Jerusalem of their affection and State 
pride — was of itself sufficient to secure me a most re- 
spectful and attentive hearing. I had proceeded with 
the services, and was about half through my sermon, 
when a gentleman entered the open door of the court- 
house, halted for a time upon the threshold, and gazed 
at me for some moments with that excited and in- 
tense earnestness with Avhich a stranger is regarded in 
those regions, where the presence of a stranger is a rare 
occurrence. He wore a black broadcloth suit, and his ap- 
pearance and bearing indicated a professional rather than 
a laboring man of that region. The sheriff's seat was 
close to the door, at his right hand, and this was occupied 
by my friend, the venerable schoolmaster of the village, 
to whom I have before alluded. Turning to the school- 
master, he plied him with questions for some time, which 
he evidently answered with great reluctance as he kept 
his eyes constantly upon me, giving the closest attention 
to my sermon. At length he turned his head from him, 
as far as possible, and refused to answer his questions. 
I had no doubt, from appearances, that in this pursuit of 
knowledge under difficulties he w^as seeking information 
in regard to the preacher he had come upon so un- 
expectedly. After standing in the door and listening 
to me for some time, he very deliberately folded his 
arms, dropped his head in an apparently meditative 
mood, and promenaded back and forth before me from 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 165 

one side of the court house to the other. The ladies 
and a part of the men were within tlie bar. The rest of 
the audience were on seats outside the bar, against the 
walls, and in the windows, so that there was ample room 
for this promenade over the brick floor in the space be- 
tween the bar and the seats against the walL I had had 
too wide and varied an experience in addressing au- 
diences to be seriously disturbed by this somewhat un- 
usual proceeding, and, as the audience gave me the strict- 
est possible attention, I continued my sermon, and my 
abstracted friend continued his promenade and his medi- 
tations. At length, tossing up his head suddenly, he 
whirled about, and, moving with a rapid step, marched 
across the room, passed within the bar, ascended to the 
Judge's seat, and sat down on a bench at my left hand. 
After sitting here a while, he lay down and stretched him- 
self at full length upon the bench. Finally he sprang 
to his feet suddenly, and, evidently supposing that I was 
concluding my sermon, stepped in front of me, elbowed 
me back as gracefully as such a thing could well be done 
in such circumstances, and, bowing profoundly to the 
audience, he said : 

" There is a fine crowd here, and I believe I will 
make a speech." 

This was too much for the patience of my audience, 
and was greeted by a general and indignant shout of 
" Sit down ! Sit down ! Sit down ! " from nearly every 
one present, several of the brethren rising to their feet, 



166 J^ THE BRUSH. 

prepared to enforce order by j^liysical force if necessary. 
My clerical friend the Judge, wlio was sitting on my 
right, arose with them, and, in the name of law and 
order, commanded him to take his seat, reminding him 
of the severe legal penalty for disturbing religious wor- 
ship. Meanwhile I stood a silent and passive spectator 
of the scene. 

During my sermon I had been struck with the very 
marked attention of a rather short, compactly built man, 
with very keen, black eyes^ who seemed all unconscious 
of his very singular attitude. He was in the window, at 
my left, nearest the Judge's seat, and had sat through 
the sermon, squatted upon his heels, leaning his back 
against the window-jam, looking directly into my face, 
and listening to every word that I uttered with the most 
gratified and animated interest. He was among the first 
to spring to his feet, and stood in the window, his black 
eyes flashing fire, and evidently more than willing to sup- 
plement the Judge's words by any acts that might be 
necessary to restore order. * 

Order was, however, restored without force. My 
friend with a speech to make reluctantly resumed his 
seat. I resumed and concluded my sermon, and was, in 
the vernacular of the people, about to " lift a collection" 
for the Bible Society. At this point my oratorical friend 
sprang in front of me, and exclaimed, with great vehe- 
mence : 

" There is a fine crowd here, and I am going to make 




A candidate's unsuccessful effort to make a speech. 



STEANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 167 

a speech. I won't be put down by Judge Locke, this 
man from L , or anybody else." 

This was the signal for the wildest possible excite^ 
ment. Every man, woman, and child in the audience 
sprang to their feet, all shouting at the top of their 
voices, 

" Sit down ! Sit down ! Sit down ! " 

One immensely tall and large woman at my right, 
head and shoulders above the group of sisters by whom 
she was surrounded, with an indescribable bonnet of the 
largest old-time pattern and a dress of home-made wool- 
sey, in the excess of her excitement and rage, jumped up 
and down, whirling completely around and jerking her 
head like a snapping-turtle, and shouted at the top of 
her voice, which rang sharp and shrill above the gen- 
eral roar, 

" Kill him ! Kill him ! Kill him ! " 

My friend with the fiery black eyes leaped at a single 
bound from his perch on the window-sill to the Judge's 
seat, and seizing the intruder by the collar, jerked him 
in an instant to the floor below, where he was reenforced 
by other zealous brethren, among them my host, who 
was sitting at the opposite end of the room, and together 
they " snaked " him out of the house in much quicker 
time than I had ever seen such a feat performed before. 
The quickness of the whole transaction was wonderful. 
A part of them took him to the jail, which was but a 
few yards distant, where he was locked up. Order being 



168 IiV THE BRUSir. 

again restored, the liats were j^assed, and I received a col- 
lection amounting to about five dollars. 

As soon as I pronounced the benediction, the people 
crowded around me and expressed their intense mortifi- 
cation and sorrow at these occurrences. 

a We've got a pretty bad name here anyway," said 
one, '' and if any such thing happens, it is always sure to 
be when there is a stranger here from a long way ofi"." 

'' I don't want to fight," said my friend with the fiery 
black eyes, " any more." 

The reverend Judge and the brethren and sisters, one 
after another, gave expression to their deep humiliation, 
and my fiery friend kept stepping about nervously, and 
repeating over and over, half to himself and half to me : 

" I don't want to fight any more." 

At length, shutting his fist, and bringing it down em- 
phatically, he said : 

" I don't want to fight any more. But I won't see re- 
ligion abused anyway. I will fight for my Master." 

Looking at his closely knit, compact form, his quick, 
vigorous movements, and his flashing eyes, I could read 
in his " any more " the story of many a fierce fight before 
his conversion — which I could not now doubt was genuine. 

At length I inquired who the gentleman was that 
had made the disturbance, and had been so suddenly 
locked up in jail. I confess I was somewhat surprised 
to be informed that he was a lawyer and candidate for 
prosecuting attorney for the county. This was the first 



STRANGE EXPERIENCES WITH A CANDIDATE. 160 

Sunday in August. The election was to come off on the 
following Monday. lie had been making speeches in 
different parts of the county every day for two or three 
weeks before. It was very evident that he was not a 
teetotaler, though, as I afterward learned from himself, 
he entertained a very high regard for temperance as a 
theme for oratorical display. 

I learned that before sundown his opponent in the 
canvass magnanimously interposed in his behalf and 
bailed him out of jail, being chivalrously unwilling to 
profit by his enforced absence from the polls from such 
a cause on the ensuing election-day. 

After breakfast the next morning, I concluded to 
walk over to the court-house and see how the election 
progressed. As soon as I entered the yard, a "sover- 
eign " whom I had not seen before approached me, 
with a large water-bucket in one hand and a quantity of 
quarters, dimes, and other change in the other, which he 
shook before me, and said : 

"We are agoing to have a general treat, stranger; 
would you like to throw in ? " 

I declined as politely as possible, and he passed on to 
the tavern to expend the proceeds of his collection for a 
pail of whisky. *' A general treat " is where the whis- 
ky is purchased by a " general collection " taken in this 
way, and put into a water-bucket or larger vessel, and all 
parties come forward and help themselves with a gourd 
dipi^er. A general treat so early in the morning gave 



170 IJ^ TEE BR USE. 

promise of a lively day. As I entered tlie court-house 
door, my friend the candidate recognized me, and ad- 
vancing with the most consequential air, and bowing 
with a great deal of assumed dignity, he said : 

" I believe, sir, you are the gentleman from L 

that preached here yesterday ? " 

I replied, " Yes, sir." 

" Well, sir," said he, " I wish to apologize to you. I 
very much regret what occurred. I came into the court- 
house, and saw that there was a very fine crowd, and 
I concluded that I would deliver them a temperance 
speech. I have a very fine one that I have delivered in 
Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, that I was agoing to 
give them, but they hauled me out like a dog. I am a 
candidate for commonwealth attorney, sir, and I suppose 
the affair will injure me somewhat in this precinct ; but I 
think, stranger, that I shall make the race." 

Passing through another part of the county some 
days afterward, I learned that, sure enough, he did 
" make the race," being elected by a large majority. 

It is but simple justice for me to add that, in all my 
extended travels in the Southwest, this is the only in- 
stance where I have had the slightest interruption in the 
discharge of my professional duties. I have uniformly 
had that kind, cordial, and hospitable reception for 
which the people are so justly famed. All my readers 
will understand that whisky was the sole cause of this 
exceptional case. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EXPERIENCES WITH OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-EIDERS 
m THE SOUTHWEST. 

In my extended horseback travels in the Southwest, I 
made the acquaintance of a great many itinerant preach- 
ers, and spent a good deal of time with them in riding 
around their circuits. I found them, as a rule, a genial, 
laborious, and self-denying class of men. In general, 
they had hard work, rough fare, and, so far as this world 
is concerned, very small pay. But they understood all 
this when they entered upon this itinerant life. They 
did not toil for earthly reward. They labored for the 
salvation of men and the glory of God. Their richest 
present compensation was the peace and joy that ever 
pervade the souls of those who, in simplicity and godly 
sincerity, yield themselves to the toils and privations of 
this high and glorious calling. In this the richest pleas- 
ures and the sweetest joys attend those whose self-denials 
are the greatest and whose toils are the most severe. 

Almost without exception, I found my ministerial 
brethren in the Brush men with perfect health. This I 



172 I^ THE BRUSH. 

attributed very largely to their ont-of-door life, their 
horseback-ridino:, and the fact that thev communed far 
more with men and nature than with books. More than 
this, I found them cheerful men. They loved and en- 
joyed their labors. They enjoyed tlieir long rides to 
preach to a dozen or more at an out-of-the-way appoint- 
ment — enjoyed preaching, praying, singing, shouting — 
enjoyed laboring with " mourners in the altar " until late 
in the night, and they could scarcely speak for hoarse- 
ness — enjoyed seeing them "come through" (the ver- 
nacular for conversion), hearing them shout, and re- 
ceiving them into the church — enjoyed class-meetings, 
quarterly-meetings, camp-meetings, love-feasts, and con- 
ference — enjoyed the familiar and affectionate greetings 
of parents and children, the cordial welcome, and the 
free and unrestrained social intercourse that awaited them 
in their pastoral visitations in the Brush — enjoyed with 
the relish that comes from real health and hunger the 
"good things" the sisters provided for them, especially 
fried chicken. I have heard it said a great inany 
times that many of the dogs in the Brush knew a 
preacher as soon as he rode up to a house, and, antici- 
pating the call that was sure to be made upon them, 
would start out unbidden and run down the chickens 
for the coming meal, and bring them to the house. I 
can not vouch for this remarkable canine sagacity of 
my own knowledge, but I can say that, when riding 
the circuit with these brethren, I have often seen the 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 173 

dogs start after tlie chickens upon a very slight inti- 
mation, and run them down for our supper as soon as 
we rode up, and received from the sister, all aglow with 
joj at our coming, the cordial invitation to "'light" 
(alight). I sj^eak of all the enjoyments I have thus 
enumerated from personal knowledge, for I have 
been with many of these good brethren in all these 
scenes. 

But other and strange scenes were almost constantly 
occurring in the prosecution of these labors. On one 
occasion I started out with a young preacher to visit 
several of his week-day appointments. His circuit was 
known in the conference as "Brush College." It was 
so called because young preachers, without wife or fam- 
ily, were invariably sent there. They were sent there 
if they had a great deal of zeal, and there was any doubt 
as to its permanency ; for the trials and discouragements 
they would there meet would thoroughly test their sin- 
cerity and their perseverance. They were sent there if 
they were thought to be lacking in humility, or, in the 
language of the Brush, if they had the hig-head ; for 
roughing it there would be certain to relieve them of 
any inflated notions of self. They were sent there not 
unfrequently because, in their entire devotion to God and 
his service, they were more than willing to go anywhere 
and suffer anything if they might lead men to that 
Saviour whose love glowed in their souls a pure and 
ceaseless flame. Such was the devout character and spirit 



1T4 IN THE BUUSn. 

of the yonng^ circuit-rider whom I accompanied on his 
week-day visit to Eocky Creek. 

It was an intensely hot day in July. As we neared 
the place of meeting, we passed two or three old 
women on foot, accompanied by a boy about a dozen 
years old, who was carrying a brand of fire and swing- 
ing it to keep it alive. As the weather was so uncom- 
fortably warm, it was entirely beyond my ability to 
comprehend what use they could make of fire, and, turn- 
ing to the preacher, I said, 

" What can be their object in carrying that fire with 
them to the meeting this hot day?" 

He smiled as he saw my puzzled look, and simj^ly 
answered, 

''You will soon see." 

We rode on to a rough log school- and meeting-house, 
standing upon the bank of a rocky creek or " branch," as 
it was called, entirely surrounded by large and small for- 
est trees, under the grateful shade of which we hitched 
our horses. This was done here, as elsewhere in the 
whole region, by riding under a tree, pulling down a 
limb, and making fast to the end of it by a simple loop 
made with the end of the bridle-reins. This is an admi- 
rable method of hitching a horse. The long, easily bend- 
ing limb offers no resistance to the movements of the 
horse in fighting flies, and there is no liability of getting 
the reins or halter under his feet. It has often been a 
pleasant sight to me to see scores or hundreds of horses 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 175 

hitched in this manner, and standing comfortably in 
the shade of forest trees, surrounding a chm'ch, j^reach- 
ing-stand, or camp-ground. As we returned from this 
care of our horses, the mystery in regard to the lire 
was all explained. It had been placed in a large 
stump, which was burning freely, near the log church. 
As soon as the people arrived, and had hitched their 
horses, men and women, old and young, made their 
way to this stump, lighted their pipes, filled with 
home-raised and home-cured tobacco, which they carried 
loose in the ample pockets of their coats and dresses, 
and sat down on the ground to enjoy a social, neigh- 
borly smoke and chat before going into the house to 
hear the sermon. When the congregation had arrived, 
by paths radiating through the forest from all points 
of the compass, some of the official brethren who had 
accompanied the preachers into the house struck up a 
familiar hymn. This was the signal for a general lay- 
ing aside of pipes and gathering in to the service. 
We had been joined at the church by a " local preach- 
er " who had formerly served in the ranks of the itine- 
rancy, but had " located " in this neighborhood, and, 
after years of almost gratuitous service in the ministry, 
was now supporting himself and family by carrying 
on a small tannery and store. This old itinerant 
preached the moming sermon. He was a man of 
strong muscular frame, heavy voice, and great experi- 
ence and power in moving upon the feelings of his 



176 IN- THE BRUSH. 

hearers. In tlie midst of liis sermon a woman sitting 
near me sprang to her feet, threw her arms in the air, 
and shonted, " Glory ! Hallelujah ! " and jumped up 
and down, clapping her hands and shouting until she 
sank exhausted upon the floor. Soon another and then 
another, until a large part of the audience were shout- 
ing in this manner. The preacher's face fairly glowed 
with joy, and his voice arose louder and louder as the 
people were more and more moved ; and there was a 
general blending of songs, prayers, and vociferous shouts. 
At length, with singing, prayer, and a general shaking 
of hands, they closed what was to them a very delight- 
ful meeting. 

In the afternoon, as the day was very hot, it was de- 
cided to hold the services out of doors, under the shade 
of the large oak-trees that stood immediately in front of 
the cabin. The benches were brought out, and occuj^ied 
mostly by the women, and the rest of the congregation 
sat on the ground. I- took my position at the foot of a 
large oak-tree, near the bank of the murmuring stream, 
and preached to the people grouped and seated before 
me under the shadow of this and other oaks. All gave 
the most respectful attention. During my sermon I 
noticed a. woman wdio was sitting but a few feet distant, 
and immediately in front of me, hunch with her elbow 
the one sitting next to her. She immediately hunched 
in the same manner the next, and she the next, until the, 
to me, unknown signal had been communicated in this 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 177 

manner to the half-dozen or more who occupied the 
bench. During this time every eje was fixed on me 
and not a muscle of any face moved. In a few moments 
the hunch was repeated, and they all arose from the 
bench with almost military precision, filed out before me 
as quietly as possible, moved around to the large burning 
stump on my right, filled and lighted their pipes, took 
seats on the ground near by, and all commenced smok- 
ing. During all this movement, from the first hunch, 
they each kept an ear inclined toward me, intent on 
listening to my sermon, and not one of them apparently 
lost a word. They smoked on and I preached on to the 
end of my sermon; and, as usual, "lifted a collection" 
for the Bible Society, which, in this instance, amounted 
to about seven dollars. The benediction was then pro- 
nounced, and, in their vernacular, the " meeting broke." 
We spent the night very comfortably w^ith a kind family 
living near the place of preaching, and returned to con- 
tinue the services the next day. 

In the morning I listened to a sermon from a genu- 
ine backwoodsman, the young man I have spoken of 
in the chapter entitled " The Old, Old Book and its 
Story in the "Wilds of the Southwest," as the guide 
who piloted the venerable Bible - distributor through 
that rough, wild region. He had since been licensed, 
first as an exhorter, and then as a local preacher. It 
would hardly be possible to find a young preacher 
whose education had been more completely that of the 



178 IN THE BRUSH. 

Brush. His home was in the wild region I have de- 
scribed in that chapter, and his companions had been 
as illiterate and uncultivated as could well be found. 
He had attended school but a very few months, and 
that was vastly poorer than the most of my readers 
have ever conceived of as possible. He had then taught, 
for a few months, this school in his own neighborhood, 
in which he had received his only education. His 
reading was tolerable, his writing passable, his spelling 
horrible. Several weeks afterward I received a letter 
from him, in which he expressed the hope that certain 
facts I had asked him to send me would have due weight 
— which he spelled " dew wate." He w^as about twenty 
years old, full six feet in height, with very full, broad 
chest, square shoulders, and he stood as erect and straight 
as any Indian. He had a full head of very handsome 
black hair, bright black eyes, a very mild, pleasant expres- 
sion of countenance, and a voice that rang loud, smooth, 
and clear like a trumpet. I listened to his sermon with 
unbounded amazement, and, I may add, delight. It was 
a mystery to me how one so unlettered and so unlearned 
in all religious reading except the Bible — and, in the 
nature of the case, but poorly versed in that — could have 
acquired thoughts so sensible and good. It was a greater 
mystery how he could clothe them in such appropriate 
language. Both his thoughts and his words flowed as 
freely as the stream near by, and they had great power 
to arrest the attention and move the hearts of his hearers. 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 179 

It was the power of undoubted sincerity and burning 
zeal ; it was the power of one with superior natural en- 
dowments stirred to their profoundest depths, and, be- 
yond all question, taught of God. It was the power of 
one whose life, whose education, and whose modes of 
thought were in full sympathy with his hearers, who 
had been born in the same wild region and reared with 
the same educational surroundings as himself. He was 
adapted to preach to those people, as the learned pastors 
of intelligent congregations are adapted to theirs; and 
each, with his human sympathies, was better adapted to 
j^reach to those of like human character and infirmities 
than any angel in heaven. If it be heresy, I am so he- 
retical as to believe that God has other methods of train- 
ing some men — yea, many men — to be useful ministers 
of the Gospel than by filling their heads with Latin, 
Hebrew, and Greek. So he had trained this man for the 
remarkable work he had for him to do. Several weeks 
after this I met him at conference, where he was re- 
ceived into the ^' traveling connection," to enter upon his 
four years of practical training and study for the " full 
work of a Gospel minister." A few months later, in the 
prosecution of my labors, I reached the circuit to which 
he had been sent with an older colleague, when I was 
told by a gentleman of the legal j)rofession that he had 
often heard him preach, and always with the greatest in- 
terest. This gentleman informed me that, while making 
the round of his extended circuit, his horse had suddenly 



180 /^ THE BRUSH. 

died. He puslied on on foot to fulfill liis appointments, 
and, on his return, the people had been so gratified with 
his Christian zeal and energy that they had raised money 
and purchased a horse, which they presented to him. At 
the close of the year his report of the numbers converted 
and received into the church under his labors brought 
out an emphatic and hearty Amen from the conference. 
The next year he w^as sent alone to a rough mountain 
circuit, where his labors were crowned with still greater 
success. As long as I was able to trace him, his career 
was luminous w^ith good accomplished. 

But I must return to our services at Rocky Creek. 
At the conclusion of his sermon several persons were 
baptized by the old itinerant, who had preached on 
Baptism the day before. Moving a few steps from the 
oak where I had preached, they knelt on the edge of the 
stream, and he stood in the w^ater and baptized them, 
either by sprinkling or pouring, as they preferred. The 
entire congregation then knelt with him under the 
shade of the branching oaks, and he made a prayer so 
earnest and impassioned that it moved the people to 
the most intense excitement and joy. The forest rang 
with their shouting. At the conclusion of this prayer 
the benediction was pronounced, and the meeting 
'-' broke." In all this region meetings were never said 
to be " out " or to " close." They were said to " break," 
or, more frequently, " the meeting is done broke." As 
w^e mounted our horses I rode with the sister whose 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 181 

liospitalitj we were to enjoy. She was a woman about 
thirty years of age, large, and very fine - looking. I 
had noticed her when shouting, and been particularly 
struck with the rapt expression of her face. She had 
a very pretty daughter some fifteen years old. Neither 
mother nor daughter could read a word. As we rode 
on she was still much excited with the closing exer- 
cises, and speaking of the prayer, she said : 

''I thought Brother M would pray the limbs 

off the trees." 

When we reached her home, which was an old log- 
house, she prepared our dinner with the greatest ap- 
parent delight. Her house was one of the circuit homes 
of the young preacher, where he left a part of his 
clothing. As we were about to leave to attend a quar- 
terly-meeting at the court-house, she called him back, 
and, in a very frank and motherly way, directed him 
to make some changes in his dress, saying: 

" I don't want my preacher to leave my house look- 
ing or'nery." 

Afterward I heard of "or'nery" people, "or'nery" 
preachers, doctors, and lawyers, " or'nery " animals, and 
"or'nery" almost everything else, and concluded the 
word was a corruption of "ordinary," though it .was 
more intensely expressive as it was usually applied. 

I have been asked by those who were aware of my 
wide acquaintance with all classes of people in the 
Southwest, if the character of Nancy Kirtley, in Rev. 



182 IJ^ TEE BRUSE. 

Dr. Edward Eggleston's " Roxy," was not overdrawn — 
if it could possibly be true to nature. I liave answered, 
without hesitation, ^' It is absolutely true to life." The 
Methodist sister I have described above was not a E'ancy 
Kirtley in moral character, but she was in personal 
beauty. In her form and features, in the glow of 
her face, and in the marvelous beauty of her eyes, 
she was a remarkable specimen of physical perfection. 
So was her young daughter, and I have seen scores of 
others like them in the wilds of the Southwest. I was 
greatly interested in a distinction drawn by General 
Grant, when asked if a certain man to whom he had 
given an office was not a very ignorant man. " He is 
an illiterate man," said the General, " but I should not 
call him an ignorant man." That was a "distinction" 
worthy of General Grant. I have met a great many 
highly educated literary men wdio knew almost nothing 
of men and of the great w^orld outside of books. And 
I have known a great many illiterate men and women, 
with marvelous knowledge of the world, with wonder- 
ful shrewdness and keenness, and w^itli an ability to 
compass the end sought surpassed by very few that I 
have ever known. The fact that they could not read 
or write required on their part unusual tact and skill 
not to be overreached, and to make their way in the 
world. I have known several such men who have 
acquired large fortunes. Dr. Eggleston's Nancy Kirt- 
ley is not a mythical character. 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 183 

After the young preaclier liad made satisfactory 
changes in his dress, we all bade good-by to our hos- 
pitable friends, and rode several miles to the county- 
seat where the quarterly-meeting was to commence that 
night. Here the young circuit-rider preached the open- 
ing sermon, and the meeting continued through the fol- 
lowing Saturday and Sunday. There was nothing to me 
unusual and noteworthy in the meetings, except in the 
love-feast on Sabbath morning. The first to speak was 
my host, a warm-hearted, earnest man, a Cumberland 
Presbyterian, who spoke of the goodness of God to him 
and of his love to all the followers of Christ, and then 
started out and shook hands with nearly every one in the 
house, continuing his fervent remarks and ejaculations 
during all the hand-shaking. Next, a sister spoke and 
started in the same manner, shaking hands with the 
brethren, and throwing her arms around the sisters and 
embracing them in the warmest manner. J^early all 
who followed them went through these same demon- 
strations. They not only sang, 

"Now here's my heart, and here's my hand, 
To meet you in that heavenly land," 

but they gave the cordial and often long-continued grasp. 
As the experiences, prayers, songs, and shouting be- 
came more and more animated and exciting, the hand- 
shaking became more general, until nearly the entire 
congregation, in larger or smaller groups or numbers, 



184 IN THE BRUSH. 

were shaking eacli other bj the hand, keeping time in 
their movements to the wild Western melody thej were 
singing. Hand-shaking among brethren and embracing 
among sisters formed a very prominent part in the 
religious services of these people in the Brush. This 
w^as es]oeciallj cordial and earnest when one was con- 
verted, or, in their language, "came through," after 
long mourning and praying at the altar. Then j)arentc-, 
brothers, sisters, and warm Christian friends came for- 
ward and shook hands with them, or embraced them, 
amid a general chorus of songs and shouts from re- 
joicing friends. 

As I had now visited nearly every part of the 
county (including several places to which I have made 
no allusion), I called a general meeting at the court- 
house on Sunday p. m., and organized a county Bible 
Society. Subsequently, I ordered a large supply of 
books, and the entire county was most thoroughly can- 
vassed and supplied with Bibles. The results of this 
w^ork were of surpassing interest, and I shall give some 
of them in a later chapter. 

In my long tours wdth circuit-riders I was often 
greatly interested in the accounts they gave me of their 
experiences upon other circuits. One of them told me 
that he had joined conference many years before, when 
he was but nineteen years old. The first year he was 
sent to one of the roughest mountain-circuits in Tennes- 
see. In addition to the usual outfit, he had a bear-skin 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 185 

overcoat, so that, if necessary, lie might lodge at the foot 
of a tree. On receiving his appointment, his predecessor 
gave him a map of the circuit, npon which was indicated 
all the preaching-places, the families where he would be 
most comfortably entertained, and other items to aid him 
in the discharge of his duties. I learned that this was 
customary at the first . conference that I attended, where 
I saw the preachers giving the maps they had prepared 
of their circuits to their successors as soon as their ap- 
pointments were read out by the bishop. I was greatly 
interested in it, as I had so often felt the want of such a 
guide as I had floundered through the Brush, with noth- 
ing to indicate where I would find Christian sympathy 
and aid in my work. Having reached his circuit and en- 
tered upon his labors, he found it necessary to cross a 
mountain in order to reach one of his appointments, and 
preach to the families that were scattered up and down 
the narrow valley and over the mountain-sides. It was a 
very long day's ride, and only a mountain bridle-path, 
v/ith no friendly family on the route to aid him should 
he lose his way. Having reached the top of the moun- 
tain, he found several paths leading in different direc- 
tious, all equally plain, or rather equally blind, and noth- 
ing to indicate which one of them he should take. This 
was a most uncomfortable dilemma. Himself and horse 
were weary with the long ascent, night and darkness 
were coming on, and he had no time to lose. He took 
one path, followed it to the end, and returned. He took 



186 ^^y THE BRUSH. 

another and another with the same result. They all led 
to where a tree had been cut down for some wild animal, 
for bees, or for staves, shingles, or for something else, 
either for sale or for the use of the mountaineers. At 
length the darkness closed around him, and he made the 
best arrangements possible for spending the night upon 
the mountain-top. He fastened his horse, made as good 
a bed as he could with leaves and the other materials at 
hand, and lay down at the foot of a tree, finding abun- 
dant need thus early for his bear-skin overcoat. The 
night wore slowly away, and he did not like to trust him- 
self to sleep ; but, wearied with the toils of the day, it 
overcame him, and, as he was falling into a profound 
slumber, the terrific yell of a wild-cat broke upon his ear, 
and he sprang at once to the back of Jiis horse. Having 
no other weapon than a large pocket-knife, he opened 
that, determined, as he told me, '' to make the best fight 
he could with that " in case he was attacked. But he 
was spared this. There was no more disposition to sleep, 
and he could only watch and wait for the morning. At 
length he heard the chickens crowing in the valley below 
him, and as soon as it was light enough he started, tak- 
ing the direction indicated by them. This led him 
down the side of the mountain to the family he was 
seeking, as directed by his circuit-map. It was near a 
large spring, forming the head-waters of one of the im- 
portant Southern rivers (the Holston). Here he received 
the warm welcome that awaits the new preacher on his 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 187 

first tour around his circuit. Notice of his arrival, and 
that he would preach at their house that night, was soon 
sent to their nearest neighbors, and bj them communi- 
cated to all within reach. Thej assembled promptly at 
night, in many instances the parents bringing all their 
children, old and young. As the different groups ar- 
rived, the men invariably brought their rifles and stacked 
them in a corner of the room as they entered the cabin. 
At length the room was filled, many of them sitting 
upon the floor, the children being seated nearest the 
fireplace. Taking his stand near the chimney-corner, 
he introduced the services by singing and j^rayer. As 
they had no candle or lamp, they prepared for his use 
a '' slut." The light to which they give this not inap- 
propriate name is made by putting oil or tallow in a 
tea-saucer, teacup, or any bowl or basin they may have, 
and placing in this a strip of cotton cloth, allowing the 
end of it to lie over the edge of the dish for a wick, 
which, w^hen lighted, will burn until the tallow or oil is 
coiKumed, affording ample light. Sometimes they take 
small split sticks, tie them together, and insert the bun- 
dle in the tallow for a wick, as a substitute for the cotton 
cloth. W^ith the aid of this light he was able to " line 
out " his hymns, and read a chapter in the Bible and his 
text. In my travels in the Brush I have seen a great 
many of these " sluts " — to say nothing of others. 

At the conclusion of his services no one moved. All 
sat quietly, as they had during the evening. Now their 



188 JN THE BRUSIT. 

curiosity must be satisfied. They wished to know all 
about him, where he had come from, and how he had got 
there. They were greatly interested in his account of 
his stay upon the mountain the night before. They 
knew all about the different paths he had taken, and 
gave explanations that were quite too late to be of ser- 
vice to him. At length, wearied with his long ride and 
watchings the night before, he fell asleep upon the bed 
upon which he had laid down while they were talking to 
him. In the midst of the night he was awakened by the 
noise of a terrific rain-storm, and heard the groaning of 
some animal in great distress near the house. He at 
once thought of his horse — that he had been hitched 
without any shelter — and feared that in the storm he had 
gotten down and was in this distress. An itinerant 
preacher without a horse in such a region would be in 
a sorry condition, and he had no time to lose. So, 
bounding from his bed in the darkness, he made his way 
to the door, but it was over a mass of human bodies. 
The entire congregation were asleep, apparently, in -the 
same places they had occupied at the conclusion of his 
sermon. Instead of his horse, he found that a calf had 
gotten down, and the water from the roof was pouring 
upon it. He pulled it out from under the stream, looked 
after his horse, and returned to his bed. In the morning 
the congregation slowly dispersed, and he went on his 
way to other appointments around his circuit. 

I was greatly interested and amused with some expe- 



OLD TIME METHODIST CIRCUIT-RIDERS. 189 

riences entirely unlike these, wliicli were related to me 
by my friend, whom I have already introduced to my 
readers, the first Methodist circuit-rider that I met 
deep in the Brush. He had some years before received 
an appointment to a circuit that was not in the moun- 
tains, but in a poor, broken, hilly region of country. 
Having been provided with a map of his circuit by his 
predecessor, he was making his way to a part of it known 
as " Coon Range." Everything indicated the extremest 
poverty and ignorance among the people. The very 
small patches of ground cleared and cultivated around 
their wretched cabins, and the coon, deer, and other 
skins that were hanging up around them, showed that 
the chief dependence of the people for a livelihood was 
upon the chase. Penetrating deeper and deeper into 
this utterly wild and desolate region, his horse struck and 
followed a neighborhood footpath until it led him to the 
back side of a cabin. An opening had been cut through 
the logs for a small window, but as yet there was no sash 
or glass in it. The woman, hearing the sound- of the 
footsteps of his horse as he rode up, stuck her head out 
of this opening, and at the first sight saluted him with, 

" How 'dy, stranger, how 'dy ? I reckon you are 
our new preacher." 

He told her he had been appointed to that circuit, 
and gave her his name. At this she was all excitement 
and joy, and said : 

"'Light, Brother M , 'light, sir. I'm mighty 



190 /^ THE BRUSH. 

glad to see you. Brother K used to stay with us 

a heap, and I've got the 'class-book.' " 

As soon as he entered the house she brought the 
class-book, and began to give him a full account of .each 
member of the class. But he told her it was nearly 
night, and he had had no dinner. lie had ridden all day, 
and he was very hungry and very tired. She re]3lied to 
this intimation : 

" We'll have supper d'rectly. Brother M , d'rect- 

ly. The pig is in the pen. And Joe, he'll be home 
right soon, and get the water a bilin'. We'll have sup- 
per d'rectly. Brother M ." 

To those unacquainted with the people in the Brush, 
the fact that " the pig was in the pen," and yet to be 
butchered, w^ould seem to be a somewhat strange reason 
to give that the supper would be ready " d'rectly." But 
w^ith her it was a very important advance in that direc- 
tion. The rest of the pigs, of which I have elsewhere 
said these people, with little care, raised the greatest 
abundance for their own use, were perhaps miles away, 
in some unknown direction, ranging the forest for acorns, 
beech-nuts, and other "mast" that abounded in that 
season. " Joe " was such a provident husband that he 
had gone out and hunted those that belonged to him, 
called them up to his house, captured and "penned" one 
of them, pei'haps in anticipation of the coming of the 
preacher. As the supper was so well assured to her, 
and not dreaming that the delay of a few hours could 



OLD-TIME METHODIST CIEGUIT-RIDERS. 191 

make any more difference with him than it did with the 
people in the Brush, she resumed the class-book, and 
began to go over the names, and tell how this brother 
could pray, and this sister shout, and how they could all 
sing, and what happy meetings they had had the last 
conference year, until he interrupted her w^th the story 
of his long ride, great fatigue, and intense hunger. To 
this she responded, in the most assuring manner : 

" We'll have supper d'rectly. Brother M , d'rect- 

ly. The pig is in the pen. Joe he'll be home right 
soon, and get the water a b'ilin', and we'll have suj^per 
d'rectly, Brother M , d'rectly." 

Having given him this, to her, perfectly satisfactory 
and renewed assurance, she went on with the greatest 
enthusiasm and earnestness to tell him of their love- 
feasts, and the wonderful "experiences" of some of the 
sisters, when, in utter despair of getting any supper 
from this zealous sister, he asked her the distance to 
the nearest family indicated on his map. She told him 
it was about three miles. He went out to his horse and 
mounted it. She followed him with blank amazement, 
and said : 

" Why, Brother M , you're not agwine, is you ? " 

He replied : 

" Oh, yes. Sister ; I must have something to eat," and 
started off. 

Astonished beyond measure, she called after him, 
and he rode away hearing her emphatic promise ; 



192 IN THE BRUSH. 

" We'll have supper d'rectly, Brotlier M , cl'rectly. 

The pig is in the pen, and Joe he'll be home right 
soon, and he'll get the water a b'ilin' d'rectly, and we'll 

have supper d'rectly, Brother M , d'rectlj ! d'rectlv ! 

d'rectly!" 

Such are some of the exj)eriences I have had with 
old-time Methodist circuit-riders in the Brush, and such 
are some of the accounts they have given me of their 
experiences upon other circuits. They are but specimens 
of such as were constantly occurring during the months 
and years of my ante-helium labors in the Southwest. 
Many of them are so dim and faded on the tablets of 
my memory that I can not recall them. After so many 
years, I now, for the first time, record these on more 
enduring pages, thinking they may afford both pleasure 
and instruction, and anxious, also, to wreath a garland of 
merited praise around the brows of those toiling, and too 
little known, and too little honored circuit-riders in the 
Brush. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HEROIC CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN THE SOUTHWEST. 

It was a briglit, dreamy, autumnal day, tliat I was 
making my way among tlie bayous of one of the most 
sluggish of the rivers that enter and swell the volume of 
the Mississippi. My ride since morning had been very 
long and very lonely. It is a strange sort of life to ride 
on horseback, week after week and month after month, 
over a new and sparsely settled country. The most of 
such journeys are alone. One but rarely meets with com- 
pany, and then they usually travel together but a short 
distance before their paths diverge and they separate. 
In these long, solitary rides, any unusual scene or inci- 
dent startles one as from a dreamy reverie, and makes 
a lasting, an almost ineffaceable, impression upon the 
memory. 

I have very often recalled, and shall hardly forget 
while I live, a most pleasing incident in tliis day's ride. 
I had recently traveled over a wide scope of country in- 
cluding a half a dozen counties, where the land was nearly 
as level as the numerous streams that flowed through it. 



194 IN THE BRUSH. 

The soil was entirely alluvial, and very rich. Occasion- 
ally, gentle elevations of a very few feet swelled above 
the surrounding level, which were crowned with large 
oaks having short trunks and heavy tops with wide-spread- 
ing branches. These oaks were usually interspersed with 
smaller trees and underbrush. As I floundered through 
a wet, marshy road, and struck a sandy path leading up 
one of these elevations, I saw a number of horses hitched 
to the limbs of the trees, and soon came up to a plain 
unpainted church or chapel. Its only foundation was 
the few wooden blocks upon which it stood, and the 
windows were without sash or glass, the shutters made 
of boards, being thrown open to admit the light, and 
closed when the services were ended. I rode under a 
tree, hitched my horse to a limb, and entered the church 
as quietly as possible. The preacher had closed his ser- 
mon, and was about concluding the services. It was the 
close of a meeting which had continued several days, in 
which a number of hardened and very hopeless sinners 
had been led to Christ. It was his last appointment be- 
fore leaving them for conference. The labors of the 
year had left their impress upon his whole frame. He 
looked wan and worn. He had breathed the malaria, of 
the rivers, bayous, and marshes, along which he had 
sought out these people in their homes, and near which 
he had preached to them, until it had changed the color 
of his flesh to a bloodless saffron hue. I never before or 
since saw such a human face. It bespoke a body, soul, 




A circuit ridep in the Brush. 



CHRISTIAN' WORKERS IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 195 

and spirit, heartily, wholly, and irrevocably consecrated to 
his noble work. There was over it that perfect calmness 
that succeeds long and intense anxiety and excitement, 
when their end has been fully attained. As he spoke to 
them of the labors of the year, and of his departure for 
conference, he was the only one that seemed unmoved. 
His voice was low and calm amid the weeping that was 
all around him. Among the most noted of the converts 
was a woman who for years had done more than any other 
person in the neighborhood to counteract the influence of 
the preachers who had labored on that circuit, and to in- 
jure the little church. She was famous as a fiddler, and 
the leader in getting up all the neighborhood dances, and 
it was difficult for the young converts to withstand the 
fascinations of her bow. In former years she had fid- 
dled a great many of them out of the class before their 
six months' probation had expired, l^ow that she had at 
last been brought down, there was general rejoicing. It 
was like the fall of some tall oak of the forest that 
brings down many smaller trees with it. They could 
now sing, as I have often heard them in their log-cabins : 

" Shout ! shout, we're gaining ground, 
Oh, glory Hallelujah! 
We'll shout old Satan's kingdom down, 
Oh, glory Hallelujah ! " 

This woman sat in a chair near the pulpit (with her 
little babe lying, smiling and playful, upon her lap), par- 
ticipating with the deepest interest in all the services. 



196 IN' THE BRUSH. 

and weeping among those most deeply moved. At tlie 
conclusion of liis remarks the preacher baptized this little 
child, the mother giving to it the double name of himself 
and his colleague on the circuit. His work thus ended, 
he sang alone, in a clear, firm voice, a simple and beauti- 
ful parting hymn, that I can not now repeat, with the 

refrain, 

" Brothers, fare ye well," 

j^assing at the same time through the congregation and 
shaking hands with the weeping class-leaders, stewards, 
local preachers, and other brethren present. He then 
moved to the other side of the room, and sang on in the 
same manner, changing the refrain to, 

" Sisters, fare ye well," 

and shook hands with each one of them, he alone being 
perfectly calm amid their convulsive weeping and sobs. 
The benediction was then pronounced, and I withdrew 
as quietly as I had entered, and resumed my journey. 
Such labors in such a region illustrate a moral heroism 
that is both heroic and sublime. 



D. D. 

I recall a very different experience with another type 
and class of these heroic workers for the Master."^ Many 

* The late Rev, James Eawthorn, D. D,, of Princeton, Kentucky. Ev- 
ery word of this record of his heroic labors was written while he was yet 
alive, and I did not wish to startle or offend his sensitiveness and modesty 
by giving his name to the public. But, now that he has gone to his full 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 197 

years before, he mounted his horse and rode from his 
home in the Southwest, over the Alleghany Mountains, 
onward to Philadelphia, and thence to Princeton, New 
Jersey, where he sold his horse and spent three years in 
the Theological Seminary. lie had then returned, and 
6j)ent his ministerial life in preaching to feeble congrega- 
tions that were able to pay but a small salary for his 
services. At the time I first met him he j)reaclied regu- 
larly on alternate Sabbaths to two congregations about 
twenty miles apart. In those months in wdiich there was 
a '' fifth Sabbath," he usually visited some yet smaller 
congregation, often at a greater distance, for the purj)ose 
of preaching to them, and perhaps administering the 
communion and baptizing their children. But this was 
only a small part of the labor he performed. The com- 
pensation he received for these services was entirely inad- 
equate for the support of his family, and he was obliged 
to supplement his salary by other and more arduous la- 
bors. He spent five days each week in teaching a school 
in the basement of his church. And they were not such 
days' work as are usually given to teaching. Immemo- 
rial custom in that region had required of teachers near- 
ly as many hours' daily labor in the school-room as were 

and glorious reward on high, I am most happy to pay this tribute of 
abounding veneration and love to this noble servant of our common Mas- 
ter. As his compensation for his purely missionary services was so very 
small, I once took the liberty of suggesting that he should receive a stipend 
from the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. It was most respectfully, 
but positively declined. That was the true Pauline spirit of the man. 



198 I^ THE BEUSH. 

given to any other employment. Hence lie usually be- 
gan his labors in the school at or before eight in the 
morning, and did not close until five, or later, in the af- 
ternoon. His scholars were of all ages and grades of 
attainment, and they pursued a great variety of studies. 
Many of both sexes studied the higher English, classical, 
and mathematical branches, and completed their educa- 
tion at this school. This diversity in the ages of the 
scholars and the books they attempted to master added 
greatly to his labors ; but from early Monday morning 
until late Friday afternoon he toiled faithfully in tlie 
school-room, term after term and year after year. With 
all this teaching, he had the other labors indispensably 
connected with such a school — the care of the school- 
room, consultations with parents, the collection of bills, 
and all the nameless calls and duties connected with its 
care and government. When to the long rides and other 
labors as a pastor, and the duties of a teacher, that I have 
enumerated, are added those of a housekeeper in provid- 
ing: for his family, there would seem to be little time 
left for the preparation of sermons. But these were 
thoroughly studied, and very often fully written, in 
hours that most others would have given to rest and 
sleep. 

On a cold midwinter day I mounted my horse and 
rode with him some twenty miles to his regular appoint- 
ment on Saturday afternoon. When w^e reached the log- 
school-house in the outskirts, of his congregation but a 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 199 

small number liad come out through the cold, and at his 
request I preached to them. We then rode home with 
an old Presbyterian elder, the cold constantly increasing 
in severity. His heart was much warmer than his log- 
house. We slept in a room which he tried in vain to 
warm with a large wood-fire. But the water we were to 
use in the morning froze solid, though placed as near the 
fire as possible. After breakfast we mounted our horses 
and rode a few miles to church, though it was so cold 
that I nearly froze in going, and was obliged to stop on 
the way to warm myself. I preached to a congregation 
of about forty, and we reorganized the county Bible So- 
ciety. Having kindly rendered me all the aid in his 
power, he mounted his horse after dinner, and rode 
home through the cold in order to be able to open his 
school promptly on Monday morning. At other seasons 
of the year, when the weather was such that the people 
could assemble for worship, he was accustomed to preach 
at the church in the morning, and at some school-house 
like that in which I had preached, in other and distant 
parts of the congregation, late in the afternoon. He 
would then mount his horse and ride over the roughest 
roads, often through mud, rain, and darkness, reaching 
home late at night, so that without fail he might 
promptly open his school the next morning. I inquired 
and learned of others the salary that was promised him 
for preaching in this manner to this congregation, twenty 
miles from his home, twice each month. I would state 



200 IN THE BRUSH. 

tlie amount, but I remember the story, told me bj my 
genial friend, the late Hev. Dr. William L. Brecken- 
ridge, of an Irishman who desired to have a letter writ- 
ten home to Ireland from Kentucky, many years be- 
fore, when provisions were most abundant and cheap. 

After mentioning a good many things that he wished 
him to write to his friends in regard to America, he 
said : 

" Tell them that I get all the meat I can eat three 
times a week." 

" And what do you mean by that ? " said his em- 
ployer. " Don't you get all the bacon you can eat three 
times a day ? " 

" Yes, your riverence," was the prompt rej)ly. 

" Well, then, what do you mean by writing to your 
friends in Ireland that you get all the meat you can 
eat three times a week?" 

" Faith," said Pat, " and that is more than they will 
belave." 

But these were not the hardest and most poorly 
remunerated of the labors of my friend. In some of 
his visits to smaller congregations on the "fifth Sab- 
bath " his rides were much longer, and he encountered 
difficulties and discouragements such as most Presby- 
terian ministers have never dreamed of. I will relate 
a single case. A small church some fifty miles distant 
was without a pastor, and for a long time the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper had not been administered 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN THE SOUTHWEST, 201 

to them. Always ready to aid and cheer such strug- 
gling churches, he promised to give them a " fifth Sab- 
bath." I will here say that there were hundreds of 
churches of different denominations in the Southwest 
and South that did not have preaching every Sabbath. 
They enjoyed this privilege but twice a month, once a 
month, or less frequently. When their appointments 
for preaching were regular, the numher of the Sabbath 
in the month was always specified, as, for instance, the 
first and third Sabbaths might be the days selected for 
preaching regularly at one church, and the second and 
fourth Sabbaths might be appropriated to two other 
churches. Or the first, second, third, and fourth Sab- 
baths might be the days fixed for regular preaching, 
once a month, at four different places. And so of 
all week-day appointments for preaching. They were 
always made for some day in the first, second, third, or 
fourth week in the month. Hence the people did not 
need to consult an almanac in regard to the day of 
the month, and there was rarely any mistake or con- 
fusion in regard to these appointments. Where sev- 
eral different denominations occupied the same court- 
house or building for preaching on successive Sabbaths, 
this was a matter of great importance. It always stirred 
bad blood when from design on either part these ap- 
pointments conflicted, or, in the language of the Brush, 
"locked horns." From the simplicity of this method 
of making appointments the people would learn for 



202 IN THE BRUSH, 

miles around, and remember for months ahead, that a 
basket-meeting, sacramental meeting, or camp-meeting 
would commence on the second Friday in August, or 
the third Thursday in September, or any other day that 
was announced in this manner. As the "fifth Sab- 
bath" is of infrequent occurrence, young preachers 
often took this day to visit their mothers and sweet- 
hearts, and old preachers made missionary tours and 
visited neglected neighborhoods and destitute churches. 
It w^as such a day and such a work my worthy friend 
had promised the little church to which I have alluded. 
After his accustomed labors for the week, he on Satur- 
day performed the long, rough horseback ride, and on 
Sabbath preached and administered the communion to 
them. But it was not a pleasant service. The day was 
cold ; the church, like others I have described, had no 
other foundation than blocks of w^ood ; the hogs of the 
neighborhood had made their bed under it, and they 
successfully disputed all efforts to drive them from their 
warm shelter. Hence all the services of preaching and 
the administration of the Lord's Supper were performed 
with the accompaniment of their incessant squealing 
and fighting immediately under the pulpit and com- 
munion-table. The long, cold ride home extended into 
the darkness of midnight. How few have ever gra- 
tuitously performed so laborious a service with so little 
to compensate, so much to sadden and distress ! 

But such experiences were relieved by many of a far 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN THE SOUTHWEST. 203 

different character. To many feeble cliurches his coming 
was anticipated by all needed preparations, and he was 
greeted with great joy by the little flock. They listened 
with delight to the truths that they loved as they fell 
from his lips. Cheerful homes welcomed him and 
were gladdened by his presence. To many scattered 
families of the church to which he belonged his pas- 
toral visits wxre all that they received, and they were 
the more prized because such visits were so rare to 
them. 

Faithful, laborious, self-denying man of God ! his 
toils have not been unrewarded in the j^ast, and they 
will be abundantly honored in the future. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

STRANGE PEOPLE I HAVE MET IN THE SOUTHWEST. 

I HAVE met a great many very odd and strange 
characters in tlie Southwest. The peculiar life of the 
people developed their originality. They were not re- 
strained by the laws and customs that control older 
and more established communities. Every man was a 
law unto himself. All that was unusual and peculiar 
in their natural characters grew in unrestrained luxuri- 
ance like the wild vines on their hillsides and in their 
valleys. What any man or community might think of 
their actions or mode of life had the least possible in- 
fluence in deciding what they should do or not do. 
The laws of fashion, generally so tyrannical, were ut- 
terly powerless with tliem. What any one else might 
think of the color, shape, or quality of a garment, 
had no effect upon them. They dressed entirely in 
accordance with their own notions of comfort. This 
same kind of independence characterized all their ac- 
tions and their entire life. 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 205 

I frequently passed tlie plantation of a very marked 
character of this peculiar type, who, by great energy 
and native shrewdness, acquired a large property, and 
became the owner of many slaves. His dress and 
personal ap]3earance were such that strangers calling 
at his house on business often mistook him for a 
plantation "field-hand," and called on him to open 
the gate leading to his residence, or for any service 
they would expect from a slave. He could read and 
wTite, but his spelling was about as bad as possible. 
On one occasion he wrote an advertisement and took 
it to a printing-office. The proprietor, knowing his posi- 
tive traits of character, told him as politely as possible 
that there were some mistakes in the spelling, which, 
with his permission, he w^ould correct in printing the 
advertisement. The old man was as positive and un- 
yielding in regard to his spelling as in regard to his 
dress and everything else, and would submit to no 
changes. That was his way of spelling, and his way 
was as good as anybody's way. It must be printed 
exactly as he had written it, or not at all. It was so 
printed ; and in addition to the amusement it afforded 
to the people of that region, a copy was sent to a 
large museum in a Southwestern city, and was among 
the most amusing of all their curiosities. 

In a long horseback-ride over a turnpike-road con- 
necting two large Southwestern cities, I stopped to 
dine and feed my horse at a house of entertain- 



206 IN TEE BRUSH. 

ment. Entering a small apartment that served for a 
sleeping-room for the family and a sitting-room for 
travelers, I met a sight very nnusual in that region. 
I found the walls of the room covered with a large 
number of cheap lithographic portraits of the promi- 
nent statesmen and military heroes of the country. A 
very brief interview showed me that my host was " to 
the manner born," and a very striking and original char- 
acter. At length I alluded to the portraits hanging 
about his room and said : 

*' You seem to be very fond of pictures, sir." 

'' I am a patriot, sir," he replied. 

Feeling quite sure that I should get a positive opin- 
ion, without any sort of hesitation I said to him : 

"And who, sir, do you think was the greatest man 
of all the Presidents, statesmen, and military and naval 
heroes whose portraits you have here?" 

"Andrew Jackson, sir," was the prompt reply. 

"Ah!" said I, "I see, sir, that you have the por- 
trait of Washington. Was Andrew Jackson a greater 
man than George Washington, sir ? " 

"I tell you, sir," said he, "Andrew Jackson was 
the greatest man God ever made. He was a man of 
firmness — more firmness than Washington." 

Greatly to my surprise, I had found lying open upon 
a bed in our sitting-room a copy of Mrs. Harriet Beech- 
er Stowe's " Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," but recently 
published, the only copy I ever saw in that region. I 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 207 

made some inquiries in regard to it, and he told me 
he had bought it of a Jew peddler who had spent a 
night with him. He was very much absorbed in read- 
ing it. 

" I tell you, sir," said he, " the man that wrote that 
book was a very smart man. They say 'twas a w^oman ; 
but I tell you, sir, the man that wrote that book was 
a very smart man." In all our long conversation he 
did not give the slightest possible credence to the idea 
that the book had been written by a woman. His oft- 
repeated and invariable statement was: 

''I tell you, sir, the man that wrote that book was 
a very smart man. They say 'twas a woman ; but I 
tell you, sir, the man that wrote that book was a very 
smart man." 

A large number of his slaves were passing in and 
out of the room, preparing our dinner. At length he 
said to me : 

" I tell you, stranger, that is my greatest trouble. 
"What is to become of these peoj)le when I am 
gone?" 

I knew that the laws of the State forbade his eman- 
cipating and leaving them there, and so I said : 

" I suppose you know that some masters are freeing 
their slaves and sending them to Liberia." 

" I know that, sir," said he, " and I have told mine 
that I would free them all and send them there if 
they would go. But they have told me they would 



208 IN THE BRUSH. 

rather I would chop them into mince-meat than go 
there." 

Their ears had been filled with such tales in regard 
to Liberia that this was their idea of the place. As I 
never saw the old man but this once, I do not know 
w^hat became of him or his slaves. 

In former chapters I have spoken of my visit to a 
celebrated watering-place. I met there some very strange 
characters. My sermon in a " ballroom " was preached 
at this watering-place. I found it much more of a re- 
sort for gamblers than clergymen. In the general sus- 
pension of travel on the Southern and Western rivers, 
on account of the low stage of the water, and other 
causes, the gamblers, who usually plied their vocation 
upon the river-steamers, congregated in large numbers 
at these Springs. The waters were famed for cleans- 
ing the system, and preventing malarious diseases. In 
addition to this improvement of their health, and prep- 
aration for the renew^al of their usual employment on 
the steamers, and at the cities and towns along the 
rivers, they foimd many subjects upon whom to prac- 
tice their arts successfully, among the numerous and 
often verdant visitors at the Springs. 

Wishing to avail myself of the benefit of these wa- 
ters, I spent some two or three weeks here, visiting 
meanwhile a large number of neighborhoods in the 
vicinity, in the prosecution of my labors. I witnessed 
here the most remarkable devotion to card-playing that 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 209 

I have ever seen or known. The principal sleeping- 
apartments for the hundred or more guests were in a 
long, low, log structure, but a single story high — a 
series of cabins — with a piazza along the whole front 
which served as the general promenade for the visit- 
ors. In going to and from mj room, day after day, 
I passed a table standing upon this piazza, within a 
foot or two of my door, which was surrounded by 
card - players. The principal character at this table 
was an old, gray-headed man, apparently not less than 
seventy years of age. In the morning he always ac- 
companied his wife to the dining-room, and, as they 
returned from breakfast, they separated at the door, 
and she went alone up the piazza to her room, and 
he walked dowm the piazza in the opposite direction, 
and took his seat at this card-table. It was the hot- 
test July weather, and the old man took off his coat 
and vest, rolled up his shirt-sleeves above his elbows, 
and sat down and played cards, without any interval, 
until the first bell rang for dinner. lie then went 
to his room and waited upon his wife to the table. 
As they returned, he parted with her at the ^ door of 
the dining-room, as after breakfast, walked down to 
his card-table, disrobed himself, and took his seat as in 
the morning, and played w^itliout cessation until the 
first bell rang for supper. He then went to his room 
and waited upon his wife to the table as before. 
This was repeated, with unfailing regularity, day after 



210 IN THE BRUSH. 

day, and week after week. 1 was told that he was 
not a professional gambler. As I passed the table, 
which I was compelled to do every time I went to 
my room, there was not usually a great deal of 
money lying upon it at stake in the game — only 
'•' enough to keep up the interest and excitement." 
But sometimes there were piles of gold lying over 
the table, and they seemed to be gambling in ear- 
nest and for large amounts. 

The devotion of this old man to cards or gambling 
was so remarkable that I confess I was somewhat sur- 
prised to see him enter the ballroom with his wife 
among the first of those who assembled to hear me 
preach on the Sabbath. I had preached at a court- 
house, a few miles away, in the morning, and returned 
here to address the people at four in the afternoon. 
There was a general attendance of the visitors, includ- 
ing the well-known professional gamblers, and all gave 
me as respectful a hearing as 1 could desire. I was 
furnished with a Bible for the occasion, but there was 
no hymn-book. I expected to resort to the expedient 
of " lining out " some familiar hymns, which was the 
most frequent method of singing in this region. But 
the old card-player came forward to the table where 
I was sitting, and handed me an Old School Presbyte- 
rian hymn-book, which I had seen his wife bring into 
the ballroom, and which she sent up for my use, as 
she saw there was no hymn-book on the table. Some 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST 211 

montlis after I recognized the aged couple in a large 
citj congregation to which 1 was preaching, and was 
afterward told bj its honored and beloved pastor that 
the old man was one of the most regular and atten- 
tive attendants at his church, and that his habits as I 
have described them were widely known. His man- 
ner was so apparently reverential, and his attention so 
marked, that strangers preaching there often got the 
impression that he was one of the elders of the church. 
So strange and paradoxical are the " characters that 
make up the world." 

Among the visitors at the Springs was one who was 
a very wealthy man, a large slaveholder, and a very 
great invalid. He was a cripple, with one limb much 
shorter and smaller than the other, and w^as compelled 
to use two crutches to walk at all. As I saw him 
mingling w^th the visitors, I observed that he was 
profane, rollicking, genial, and exceedingly social in 
his nature. I do not now remember how I became 
acquainted with him, or whether or not I w^as intro- 
duced to him at all. But from the first he attached 
himself to me, and sought my company. If I sat 
down alone upon the piazza, he would come and take 
a seat near me, and we engaged in long conversations. 
I explained to him in the greatest detail the work in 
which I was engaged, and the operations of the Amer- 
ican Bible Society at home and abroad. I described 
to him the Bible House in New York, and the proc- 



212 IN THE BRUSH. 

ess of making Bibles — commencing with the printing of 
them in tlie higher stories, and passing them through 
different hands from story to storj below, until they 
reached the depository, well-bound and beautiful speci- 
mens of the art of book-making. I told him of the 
wealth and business character of the men who acted 
as managers of the society, and gratuitously supervised 
and controlled all its operations. Thoroughly irreligious 
in all his training and associations, my statements were 
new to him, and he was greatly interested in them. 
He thought the whole thing was "grand" and "mag- 
nificent," and was enthusiastic in his commendations 
of me and my work. When I was absent for a day 
or two for the purpose of meeting the people of some 
neighborhood at a week - day appointment, he was 
among the first to meet me on my return to the hotel, 
and inquired with the greatest interest as to the suc- 
cess of my labors. In our repeated interviews I talked 
with him frankly, freely, and fully, in regard to his 
own spiritual condition, urged him to make religion a 
personal matter, yield his heart to Christ, and live 
henceforth for the glory of God, and the good of his 
fellow-men. The openness of his nature aiid the frank- 
ness of his expressions upon this subject were remark- 
able. His belief in the Bible was implicit. He did 
not seem to have a shadow of doubt in regard to its 
truth. He told me that, from the nature of his dis- 
ease, he was liable to die at any moment, and if he 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 213 

died he knew he should be lost. He did not seem to 
have a particle of doubt on this subject. Sometimes, 
in deep consciousness of the struggle within him, he 
would saj : 

" The trouble wdth me, sir, is, that I have no sta- 
bility — I just go with the crowd I am in. When I am 
with a man like you, I w^ish I was a Christian. I 
would give the world to be a Christian. But when I 
am with W and G " (naming the chief gam- 
blers at the hotel) "and their crowd, I am just carried 
away with them. I can't help myself. If I could al- 
ways be in the company of men like you, I believe I 
could be a good man and a Christian." 

I prayed with him in my room at different times, 
and gave him all the instruction and encouragement 
in my power. 

On learning from me that I was a native of the 
State of Xew York, and was familiar with the free 
States, he had a great many questions to ask in regard 
to them. He had never been out of the slave States. 
He inquired particularly in regard to the schools, and 
whether there were any schools where colored boys 
could be educated. I gave him the name of Oberlin 
and other schools that then admitted colored students. 
He told me that he had been confined to his bed 
seven years ; that the greater part of the thigh-bone 
of one of his limbs had come out ; that his body-ser- 
vant had nursed, washed, and taken care of him like 
10 



214 IN THE BRUSH. 

a baby all tbis time ; and that in reward for these ser- 
vices he had offered to grant him and his two boys 
their freedom, and give the boys a good education. 
'^ But," said he, " I don't hire any overseer now. lie 
is my overseer, and that makes him the biggest nigger 
in T ■ County, and he says he ' don't want no free- 
dom,' but he would like to have his boys sent to school. 
Now, sir, if you will find any school in the IsTorth that 
will take them, I will send them to school just as long 
as there is any use of their going." 

I afterward wrote to several institutions on the sub- 
ject, and sent their replies to him at his home. He 
was very anxious to know positively if he could send 
them to the State of New York, and said : " I can not 
send them to Illinois or Indiana, and I can not under- 
stand how they can be sent to New York. They are 
all free States." I told him that Illinois and Indiana 
had passed laws prohibiting colored persons coming into 
those States, but New York had not. He then wanted 
to know why this was so, and I told him that one 
reason was, that New York was so much farther from 
the slave States, and less likely to be overrun by free 
colored people. He at length became satisfied upon 
this point, a very important matter with him, as the 
sequel will show. 

On one occasion, in explaining to him the nature 
of my Bible-work, and the extent of the territory com- 
mitted to my supervision, he interrupted me with — 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 215 

" That will include T County, my county. You 

must certainly come and see me when you reach that 
part of the State, and stay with me while you are in 
that region." 

I thanked him for his invitation, and told him that 
I should be certain to call on him. This invitation 
was often repeated, and renewed with special earnest- 
ness when we separated. A long time elapsed before 
I visited all the intervening counties, organized or re- 
organized Bible societies, preached and " lifted collec- 
tions " in the more important churches, ordered Bibles 
from New York, secured the appointment of colpor- 
teurs, and completed all the arrangements for a thor- 
ough canvass and supply of the counties. But after 

several months I reached T County ; and, as my 

friend resided some distance from the county -seat, I 
completed all my arrangements for the supply of the 
county before making him my promised visit. This 
accomplished, I mounted my fleet horse and rode sev- 
eral miles to his residence. His welcome was as warm, 
-cordial, and hearty as words and acts could make it. 
A long-absent brother could not have been received 
with greater demonstrations of joy. After I had laid 
aside my leggins and spurs, washed myself, and a 
troop of big and little house-servants, who w^ere rush- 
ing about eager to render some service in welcoming 
me to their master's hospitalities, had brushed me and 
properly cared for all my wants, and the commotion 



216 IN THE BRUSH. 

created by the arrival of a stranger at a large planta- 
tion had somewhat subsided, my host said to me : 

''The blue -grass in my pastures is knee-high to 
your horse. Now just stay with me a few weeks, and 
let your horse run there. The w^eather is hot; you 
are a hard w^orker. You need rest, and your horse 
too. It will do you both good. Just stay with me, 
and I will kill my biggest, fattest turkeys, and give 
you the very best that the plantation affords." 

I thanked him for his cordial welcome, told him 
that I could not spare so much time, but would stay 
with him as long as I possibly could. 

He then inquired after my plans for the supply of 
his county with Bibles. I told him that I had spent 
the previous Sabbath at the county-seat, and gave him 
the names of all the men that had been elected as 
officers of the County Bible Society, and of the col- 
porteurs that had been chosen to canvass and supply 
the county. He knew them all, and approved the 
choice that had been made. I then said : 

"I have ordered a large supply of Bibles from 
New York, and I am quite sure I can depend upon the 
people of the county to meet the expenses of this work." 

"Yes," said he, thrusting his hand into his pocket, 
and taking out and opening his pocket-book, and hand- 
ing me a bill, "there is twenty dollars for T 

County " ; and, handing me another bill, " There is ten 
dolhirs for the world." 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 217 

I was very mucli gratified with his appropriation of 
the money, as I saw that, in my conversations with 
him, I had given him a clear idea of the local or 
home work and the general or foreign work carried 
on by the American Bible Society. 

A bountiful supper followed, and the evening passed 
very pleasantly and rapidly in conversation ; with many 
reminiscences of our life at the Springs, and the vari- 
ous persons we had met there. At length he ordered 
the Bible brought forward, and the servants summoned 
for prayers. A large number, including the house- 
servants, and their husbands and children who lived in 
the kitchen and other adjacent buildings, were soon 
assembled. The master and myself were the only 
white persons in the group. He sat near me in 
a large chair, thin, pale, and sickly, his two crutches 
lying across his legs, and seemed profoundly interested 
and impressed. With a stillness that was almost motion- 
less and breathless, and with a fixed, an earnest, an ex- 
cited attention, such as I have never seen, only as I 
have seen it in many similar groups, they all listened 
while I read to them a portion of the blessed Word 
of God — that Word that I have found so potent to 
soothe and cheer and bless the most ignorant and the 
most oppressed — and then we all bowed together be- 
fore our common Father, and in language as simple as 
I could command I earnestly besought his blessing to 
rest upon them all, and commended master and slaves 



218 IN TEE BRUSH. 

to Lis compassionate care and love. As, after the 
lapse of so many years, the long-closed chambers of 
memory open at my bidding, and, recalling this scene, 
I for the first time commit it to pages that can be 
read by others, it all stands revealed before me, so 
vivid, so j^resent^ so unspeakably tender and precious 
in its memories, that again and again I have been com- 
pelled to lay down my pen and wipe the fast-falling 
tears that would flow as I have lived over again the 
golden, glorious hour thus spent in communing with 
God and comforting his enslaved and suffering poor. 
The same divine power comes down upon me now, 
while I write, as when I knelt in the midst of that 
dark group, melting my soul w^ith a tenderness so 
inexpressibly sweet, and irradiating my whole being 
with a joy so. unearthly that I can but exclaim with 
the poetess : 

"Tell us if the gleams of glory, 
> Bursting on us when we pray, 
Are not transient, blest revealings 
Of our liome^ so far away ; 
Loving glances of our Father, 
Sent to lure our souls away." 

A delightful night's rest was followed by a most 
beautiful day. A morning stroll revealed to me the 
character and extent of my host's plantation. His 
residence was a large brick house, standing in the 
midst of a grove of forest-trees, and presented a most 



STRANGE PEOPLE IIT THE SOUTHWEST. 219 

neglected, not to say dilapidated, appearance. A great 
many panes of glass had been broken from the 
windows ; the doors were out of order ; it had been 
mipainted for many years ; the fences, out-buildings, 
and everything about it had a "tumble-down" look, 
and all presented about as "shiftless" an appearance 
as ever distressed the soul of a neat and thrifty Miss 
Ophelia. If my memory is not at fault, the plantation 
contained one thousand acres. It was as rich, produc- 
tive, and beautiful land as I have ever seen. It lay 
in the heart of one of the finest tobacco-growing re- 
gions in the United States. The stock, most of which 
was "blooded," and of the finest quality, presented 
noble subjects for the pencil of a Kosa Bonheur, as 
they were feeding in his large pastures, where the 
blue-grass was up to my horse's knees. The build- 
ings I have already described sadly marred a landscape 
of exceeding beauty. This was thfe paternal estate. 
He had lived with his parents until their death, and, 
being the youngest son and an invalid, they had given 
him the homestead, providing liberally for the other 
members of the family, who lived in adjoining coun- 
ties and were very wealthy. The place was culti- 
vated by his own slaves, who, including old and young, 
I think must have numbered nearly or quite a hun- 
dred. 

Shall I describe the household ? 

My host was unmarried. I do not know his age. 



220 IN THE BRUSH. 

I remember that his hair was so much frosted that it 
was decidedly iron-gray; but I am sure that it must 
have been prematurely so, on account of the great suf- 
fering he had endured. His housekeeper was a large, 
fat, gross-looking negro woman, one of his own slaves. 
But she was more than his housekeeper — she was the 
mother of his children. Here was one of those strange, 
unaccountable, revolting alliances — far more common 
than the great world has ever dreamed — that set at 
defiance the laws of God not only, but all other laws 
— where the one least attractive of all upon the plan- 
tation becomes the master's unholy choice. It hardly 
required the second look to detect among the groups 
of colored children that were playing about the yard 
four w^ho bore to their father the double relation of 
children and slaves. The two eldest were girls, prob- 
ably six and eight years old, and they had his light 
gray eyes, his double chin, and, indeed, all his feat- 
ures much more strongly marked than is usual where 
both the parents are either white or black. In their 
color, his white blood preponderated very largely over 
that of the mother ; their hair indicated their African 
parentage much more positively than their skin. The 
two boys were much darker than their sisters, and the 
features of their father were less strongly though in- 
disputably marked. The youngest was a handsome 
little fellow not more than three or four years old. 
Here, then, to any one who had seen but a tithe 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 221 

of what had fallen under my observation in years of 
horseback-riding where I had been in constant com- 
munication with masters and slaves, was the full ex- 
planation of the intense interest and anxiety of my 
host in regard to the schools and laws in the free 
States. Here was a mind agitated with the most ter- 
rible conflicts, the most excruciating anxieties, that ever 
raged in the human heart. Here were the pangs of a 
guilty conscience in regard to the past; and all the in- 
stincts of a father moved to their profoundest depths 
in behalf of his children, who were legal slaves. He 
knew, even better than I did, the unutterably terrible 
future that awaited them as slaves. He knew not 
only the possibilities but the probabilities in regard to 
the fate of his daughters, which the laws and the 
customs of society rendered doubly sure. It was to a 
mind thus agitated and distressed that I had brought 
the sweet message, " The blood of Jesus Christ cleans- 
eth from all sin." It was to a spirit thus moved that I 
unfolded the fullness and the freeness of the forgive- 
ness and salvation purchased by the sufferings and 
death of the " Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sins of the world." It was to one thus involved and 
entangled in the meshes of sin that I spoke of a De- 
liverer from its thralldom and power. O wondrous 
message ! Often as I have looked into the faces of 
the vilest of the vile, I have been thrilled and star- 
tled at the sound of my own voice as I have pro- 



222 I^ TUB BRUSH. 

claimed to tliein : " Though your sins be as scarlet, 
thej shall be as white as snow; though they be red 
like crimson, they shall be as wool." 

No wonder that he listened intently, and that his 
eyes often filled with tears, as I sat long at his bed- 
side, where he was compelled to lie the greater part of 
the time, endeavoring to instruct him and lead him to 
Christ. If I were to repeat all the strange questions 
that he asked and that I answered — questions the like 
of which I never heard of being propounded to a min- 
ister of the gospel before — they would be far more 
strange and startling to my readers than anything I 
have written. No wonder that he esteemed and loved 
me as he did ! Probably no clergyman had ever treat- 
ed him with that consideration or instructed him with 
that care and earnestness that I had. 

Possibly if I had known as much of his character 
as I afterward learned, I should have been less en- 
thusiastic and hopeful in my efforts to instruct him 
and lead him to Christ. But it has been one of the 
incidents of my long wanderings and extended inter- 
course with strangers, that I have made the acquaint- 
ance of negro-traders, slave-hunters, gamblers, and other 
like characters, enjoyed their hospitality, prayed with 
and for them and their families, and given kind and 
hopeful words of instruction, wdiere those who knew 
these people best had little heart or hope to put forth 
such efforts in their behalf. At times I have been 



STEANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 223 

j)ermitted and rejoiced to learn that such labors have 
been attended with the happiest results. 

When I asked the officers of the Bible Society the 
way to the residence of my friend, and told them of 
my promise to make him a visit, the strange, blank 
expression upon their faces told me plainly that his 
home was not a resort for clergymen. Their silence 
on the subject w^as far more expressive than the few 
ejaculations of surprise that were uttered. No wonder 
that he took such strange ways of manifesting his af- 
fection and regard. Once he called a servant and gave 
directions to have two white shoats thoroughly washed 
in soapsuds, and driven up to the front door for me 
to look at. He told me he had sent to Marshall P. 
Wilder, near Boston, Massachusetts, for a j)air of white 
pigs and a pair of chickens, which with the freight 
had cost him a large sum, which he named, but which 
I have forgotten. He was anxious to gratify me by 
seeing them in the best possible condition. Indeed, he 
seemed never to forget that I was his guest, and he 
was constantly striving to do all in his power for 
my entertainment, and to render my stay with him as 
pleasant and protracted as possible. Yery often he 
would repeat what he said to me so frequently at the 
Springs : 

" If I could only have none but good people for 
associates, I believe I could be a good man. But I 
haven't got a bit of stability. I am just carried away 



224 IN THE BRUSH. 

by the crowd I am witli. If I could only have you 
here, I believe I could be a Christian. If you will only 
stay here and preach for us, I will give the ground for 
a church and help build it, and I will bind my estate 
for a part of your salary after I am dead and gone, 
as long as you will stay. Tlie trouble is now, if Ave 
do go to church, any one else there might just as well 
get up and preach as the man that does preach.* 
You are an educated man, and I believe you are a 
good man ; and then you are a gentleman. If they 
would only send such preachers into this country, I tell 
you they would take the crowd. My mother w^as a 
Baptist, and I believe she was a good woman, and if 
I was fit to belong to any church, I should like to join 
the Baptist Church on her account. But I don't care 
very much about that. You are a Presbyterian, and 
if you will only come and start a Presbyterian church, 
I will do everything for you that I say." 

AYhen the hour for dinner arrived, we tw^o alone 
sat down to a table that fully redeemed the promise 
of the night before. We had as nice a turkey as ever 
tempted the appetite, and a superabundance of other 
dishes, " the best that the plantation afforded." 

As I could only make a brief stay with my friend, 
I was anxious to leave something with him that w^ould, 

* This was, alas ! too true — and true of a very large portion of coun- 
try that I have visited, where the great majority of the preachers were 
uneducated. 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 225 

if j)Ossible, deepen liis religious impressions, and give 
him the instruction that he so much needed, after I 
had gone. Sitting at his bedside, I gave him Rev. 
Newman Hall's " Come to Jesus " — a few copies of 
which I usually carried in my saddle-bags. I expressed 
to him my very high appreciation of the little work, 
and, in order so to enlist his interest in it that he would 
not fail to read it after I had left him, I told him 
how very highly it was esteemed by the late General 
John H. Cocke, of Virginia, whom I had known some 
years before, while superintendent of the colporteur 
operations of the American Tract Society in that State. 
My host was of an old Virginia horse-racing, sporting 
family, and his pride in the old State insured his at- 
tention to anything I would say in regard to so dis- 
tinguished a Yirginian. So I proceeded : 

" The General had a magnificent estate in Fluvanna 
County, Virginia — was President of the American Tem- 
perance Union, was prominently identified with many 
of our national benevolent institutions, and was withal 
very fond of doing good in a genial, quiet way. On 
one of his visits to Richmond, Miss Jennie Taylor, 
daughter of his old friend Rev. Dr. Taylor, of the 
Union Theological Seminary in Prince Edward Coun- 
ty, had recently been married ; and, while attending to 
his business, he ran into the store of her husband to 
congratulate him. The bride was a great favorite with 
him, as she was with a very large circle of the best 



226 IN THE BRUSH. 

j)eople in the State, who loved her for her own and 
her honored father's sake. As the General was about 
to leave, he said : 

" ' I Avish to make you and jour bride a very valu- 
able present,' and handed him a tract of four pages. 

^' ' Thank you,' said he, and immediately took from 
his desk a copy of ' Come to Jesus ' and said, ' Please 
accept that in return, General, and don't fail to read 
it.' 

" But a few days after this the General was in the 
city, and called again at the store, and said : 

'"Where can I get coj)ies of that httle volume, 
*' Come to Jesus " ? I am delighted with it, and must 
have a quantity for distribution.' 

" ' I order them by the hundred copies from the 
Tract Society in New York,' was the response, 'and 
always keep a supply on hand to give away as I have 
opportunity.' 

" The General soon procured a supply, and he had 
so many proofs of their great usefulness — so many of 
those to whom he gave them expressed their grati- 
tude, and testified to the great benefit they had re- 
ceived from their perusal — that he ordered them again 
and again, and scattered hundreds of them over the 
country." 

"How can I get a lot of them?" said my host, 
quite fired with the missionary spirit by this recital. 
I told him that I knew of no nearer place than the 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 227 

depository of the American Tract Society at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, which was several hundred miles distant. 
He would not rest until I had written out for him the 
address of Seely Wood, the depositary, and given him 
full instructions how to order them. On my next an- 
nual visit to the county I found several copies of 
"Come to Jesus" in the family of a Presbyterian 
elder, living near the county-seat, and, inquiring of 
him how he obtained them, he said : 

"I found a package of them addressed to me at 
the post-office, and the postmaster said they had been 

left there by Mr. " (my host), "and that he left 

several other packages there addressed to Rev. Mr. 

, principal of the seminary, and the officers of the 

different churches.'' 

The matter was an inexplicable mystery to him, 
and to all that received those packages. They knew 
him well, and afterward described his character to me 
as far different from that which usually pertains to a 
tract-distributor. They told me that he was a very 
cruel master, and that it was the general belief that 
he had shot and secretly paid the owner his price for 
a negro because he thought him too intimate with his 
housekeeper. 

At night I preached in a small schoolhouse, near 
his residence, to about a dozen persons who had assem- 
bled in response to the ringing of a small bell late in 
the afternoon and at the hour of assembling, the sig- 



228 IN THE BRUSH. 

nal in all that region for preaching bj a stranger, as 
I have elsewhere described. 

Perhaps I should say that as a matter of form I 
asked my host, soon after my arrival, if he had re- 
ceived the letters I had forwarded to him, and sent 
his overseer's boys to school as he had proposed. He 
said he had received the letters, but gave some excuse 
or reason for not having sent them as yet. He or- 
dered them dressed and called into the parlor for my 
inspection, that I might judge of their capacity for an 
education. This I afterward learned caused a gi-eat 
commotion in the " negro quarters," as they all thought 
I must be a " nigger trader," and this examination was 
in reference to the price I would pay for them. 

As my duties were very pressing, I spent but two 
nights with my host, and left him the next morning, 
with many thanks for his hospitality, and with earnest 
expressions of regret on his part — never to see him 
again. 

A few months later I read a notice of his death 
in the papers, accompanied with this statement : 

"He has left a very large estate. By liis will he 
has freed a part of his slaves, and given his plantation 
and nearly all his property, including his slaves, to those 
he has freed." 

On my next visit to the county-seat, I hitched my 
horse to a post, and before entering any other house 
w^ent directly to the county clerk's office and asked him 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN TEE SOTTTEWEST 229 

if lie would do me the favor to allow me to read Mr. 

's will. He at once produced the volume in which 

it w^as recorded, and I was about to read it, when he 
said : 

" I have the original will here, if you would prefer 
to see that." 

I thanked him, and he handed it to me. It was in 
his own handwriting. The spelling was very bad ; as, 
for instance, I remember that ^'be" was spelt "bea," 
and a good many other words were as badly spelled. 
I have often been similarly astonished to find that men 
who had a great deal of general intelligence, and were 
most interesting talkers, were unable to spell the sim- 
plest sentence correctly. But the clerk told me that 
he recorded the will exactly as it was written, and 
that bad spelling did not vitiate any legal document. 
The will was very brief, and I remember its principal 
provisions as follows: 

"I give and bequeath to " (the mother of his 

children) "her liberty from the hour of my death." 

"I give and bequeath to her children" (here fol- 
lowed the names of her ^yq children) "their liberty 
from the hour of my death." 

"I give to " (another woman) "her liberty 

from the hour of my death." 

"I give to my brother my fiddle." 

" I give to my brother my kitchen furniture." 

These brothers, when visiting him, had in joke 



230 IN THE BRUSH. 

asked him to make these legacies, saying that was all 
they wanted of his property, and he had in earliest 
told them he would give them what they asked. He 
also gave a little niece, the daughter of a sister, a valu- 
able gold w^atch and chain, which he had promised 
her. He then gave a very small legacy — I think only 
three hundred dollars — to the mother of his children. 
Of her five children, only four were his. To these 
he gave all the remainder of his proj)erty, including 
plantation, blooded stock, slaves, money, etc., and di- 
rected that " they be sent to the State of New York," 
and placed in the best schools and thorouglily edu- 
cated.* 

Some ten days subsequent to the date of his will 
he had added a codicil. In this he gave the name and 
date of birth of each of the four children, in the order 
of their birth, and added, "These are my own chil- 
dren," and something like an appeal that they might 
be permitted to receive what he had left for them, and 
a hope that they might enjoy all tliat wealth and edu- 
cation could procure for them. 

But the saddest, strangest thing about the will was 
its exceeding cruelty to the rest of his slaves. He di- 
rected that they all be sold for the benefit of his chil- 
dren that he had freed ; and, that they might bring 

* At the time of his death this property would have sold for nearly or 
quite a quarter of a million dollars. The plantation alone was sold under 
the hammer for nincty-Sve thousand dollars. 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 231 

the greatest possible price, lie ordered that thej all he 
sent to New Orleans and sold upon the block at auc- 
tion — not in families, but each one alone. His will di- 
rected his executor to advertise the "sale" for three 
months in the principal cities of the Southwest and 
South, so as to secure as large an attendance as possi- 
ble of negro-traders and planters wishing to buy slaves. 
This horrified even his pro-slavery neighbors; for, had 
they been sold at home, many of them would have been 
bought by those who owned husbands and wives that 
were intermarried, or had " taken up " with them, and 
others would have been bought in the region, so that 
fewer families would have been separated. His own 
relatives, who would otherwise have inherited this large 
estate, were very wealthy, and he knew that they would 
spare no money in contesting his w411. Hence he took 
precautions such as I have never heard of before to 
prevent its being broken. After he had got it written 
to suit himself — and I was told that he said he was 
inspired to write it — he made a large dinner-party, 
and among others invited the prominent physicians of 
the neighborhood. After the usual pleasures and ex- 
citements of such a party, as his guests were about 
leaving, he called the physicians to his room, and 
said : 

" Gentlemen, you all know me well, and I wish to 
know if, from all that you have seen to-day, you think 
that I am competent to make my will ? " 



232 /iV THE BRUSH. 

They all answered liim in the affirmative. He then 
said, "I wisli to know if this is your professional 
oj)inion, and that if called npon yon will make oath 
to it?" 

They again gave an affirmative response. He then 
took his will from his pocket, and said : 

" Gentlemen, here is my will, written by myself, 
exactly as I want to dispose of my property, and I wish 
to sign it in your presence, and have you sign it as 
witnesses," which w^as done. Notwithstanding these pre- 
cautions, I heard of the will as before the court, of the 
disagreement of the jury, and of the inability of the con- 
testants to either establish or break it. I suppose the 
emancipation proclamation freed all the slaves before 
the case was settled by the courts. Fortunately for his 
children, I was told that he became so alarmed about 
them before he died, that he sent them to Ohio, and de- 
posited money there for their support. Otherwise they 
would have remained slaves during the controversy in 
regard to the will. I have inquired after these children 
at Oberlin, at Xenia, and in many of the towns and cities 
of Ohio, but I have never been able to hear of them. 
I do not know whether or not they ever received the 
rest of the large estate which properly belonged to 
them. 

I have written out these facts in all this detail, think- 
ing that they would answer in part the query whether 
" anything strange or interesting did ever happen to a 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 233 

missionary," and also to reveal a type of character and 
civilization with which I have very often been brought 
in contact. I knew a free colored woman, and she was 
at the time a very liberal contributor to the American 
Bible Society, who told me that her own daughter had 
been educated at a fashionable school by her white 
father, and was the wife of an officer in the United 
States Army. She visited her daughter frequently near 
one of the largest Northern cities, not as her mother, but 
as her old nurse or ^' mammy." Her husband supposed 
that her own brunette mother had died in her infancy, 
and that she had been " raised " by this " mammy," as 
such nurses were called, and hence their great affection 
for each other. 

Within a few miles of the home of my host, in an 
adjoining county, I knew two colored girls whose mother 
was " as black as the hinges of midnight," whose white 
father and master had left them and a legacy for them 
in the care of a sister, to whom he had willed a large 
number of slaves; and those two girls were trained to 
call their mother " Margaret," and always to treat her 
as their " mammy." This was in anticipation of their 
going Xorth to a fashionable boarding-school, and that 
their mother might gratify her maternal instincts by 
accompanying them or visiting them without detriment 
to their social standing or prospects. It was well known 
in the Southwest and South for many years before the 
war that, notwithstanding the intense prejudice on ac- 



234 I^ THE BRUSH. 

count of color so universal in tlie North, many of tlio 
most expensive and fashionable boarding-schools re- 
ceived pupils from Cuba, South America, and other 
tropical countries, even if their skins were decidedly 
dark. As colored children vrere so rigidly excluded from 
nearly all the best schools in the country, many availed 
themselves of the exception thus made in behalf of 
those of foreign birth by placing pupils in these schools 
whose tropical lineage was only " asserted " by those 
who paid their bills. A few Northern schools, as is well 
known, have always received colored j)upils. Bishop 
Payne, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
President of Wilberforce University, Xenia, Ohio, told 
me during the war that before the war most of his 
students were those who had been born slaves and were 
educated by their white fathers. The stories that they 
have communicated to him of the sufferings they have 
endured as they have thought of the life to which their 
children were exposed if left in slavery — and as they 
have traveled with them up the river, and been com- 
pelled to witness the indignities to which they were 
exposed, as they were obliged to leave them on deck 
with the rough crowds of passengers, liable at all times 
to the basest insults, while they, as they valued their 
lives, dared not offer them a father's protection — would 
alone make a volume of painfully thrilling interest. 
Alas, that there were many thousands of such parents 
whose natures were so blunted that they cared as 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 235 

little for their offspring as the dumb beasts around 
them ! 

But I have said all and more than I had intended, 
though very far from all that I could say upon this sub- 
ject, and will betake myself to more pleasant and con- 
genial narrations of my labors in the Brush. 

SUPPLEMENTARY FACTS. 

In writing the foregoing chapter,' I, of deliberate 
purpose, suppressed the name and place of residence 
of the j)erson whose remarkable history I have given 
in so much detail. I w^ished to make the case less 
personal than representative of a state of society now 
happily passed away. I gave the facts as far as I had 
received them. 

But, since reaching !N"ew York, and while reading 
the proof-sheets of this volume, I have received addi- 
tional facts from the highest authority ; and, as the case 
has become so celebrated, there is now no reason why 
I should withhold any of them. 

In the year 1859, one year after my election to 
the presidency of Cumberland College, I one day 
made a very long horseback-ride in order to reach 
the residence and spend the night with the Hon. 
Francis M. Bristow, at Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky. 
Mr. Bristow was at the time serving his second term 
as a member of Congress from the third district. I 



236 I^^ TEE BRUSH. 

was anxious to see him, from the fact that, in accord- 
ance with instructions from the maker of the ahove- 
named will, the executor had employed him and his 
son, a young lawyer who had recently opened an office 
in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to defend the will in a suit 
that had already been instituted in the Circuit Court. 
I did not find the distinguished Congressman at home, 
but was so fortunate as to meet and spend the night 
with his son. 

I have called several times, since reaching the city, 
upon the " junior counsel for the will," now the Hon. 
Benjamin 11. Bristow, late Secretary of the United States 
Treasury, Washington, D. C. 

The maker of the will was Mr. Lycurgus B. Leav- 
ell, of Trenton, Todd County, Kentucky. General 
Bristow informs me that the case was tried before 
Hon. Thomas E. Dabney, at a term of the Circuit 
Court, held at Elkton, Kentucky. The senior counsel 
for the will was Hon. Francis M. Bristow ; the junior 
counsel, Benjamin H. Bristow and H. G. Petrie. 
The senior counsel for the contestants was the Hon. 
Gustavus Henry, the " eagle orator " of Tennessee ; 
the junior counsel was James E. Bailey, late United 
States Senator for Tennessee. As the case was so 
very important, the jury was selected from the most 
prominent and honorable slaveholders in the county. 
Young Bristow and Bailey opened the case. It was 
ably contested, and of most extraordinary interest, but 



STRANGE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST. 237 

this is not the place to describe it. The jury were 
eleven for and one against sustaining the will. 

The war soon came on ; the slaves, including several 
who had recently been imported from Africa in the 
« Wanderer, were freed by the emancipation proclama- 
tion ; the contest was withdrawn, and the will estab- 
lished. The executor and his bondsmen were finan- 
cially ruined by the w^ar, and only a small part of the 
estate, some forty thousand dollars, reached the two 
surviving children to whom it was devised. One of 
them, a young lady, has recently graduated with dis- 
tinguished honor, and the president and professors of 
the college speak of her in terms of the very highest 
praise. 

11 



CHAPTER XIY. 

OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHEES IN THE BRUSH. 

I HAVE very often thought that the best work that 
could possibly be prepared in favor of an educated 
ministry, would be to send stenographers through those 
States where the census reveals the greatest amount of 
ignorance, to make verbati7n reports of sermons that 
are actually preached, and publish them in a volume. 
Such a book would be the most remarkable exhibition 
of ignorance ever printed. Any one who has not trav- 
eled extensively will be astonished to learn of the great 
number of altogether unlearned and ignorant preachers 
who minister regularly to large congregations. I have 
found that the deeper I got into the Brush, and the 
denser the ignorance of the people, the greater was 
the number of j)reachers. I have seen a surprisingly 
large number of people who knew very little of the 
world, and a great deal less of books, to whom the 
honors of a preaclier were very attractive. I say 
"honors," for the emoluments were so small that they 
had very little weight in the matter. I have known 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 239 

tliem to urge tlieir own claims, and " electioneer " with 
others for years, and with the greatest pertinacity, in 
order to secure licensure and ordination. Some of 
them could not read at all, and many could read a 
verse or chapter only with the greatest difficulty, and 
miscalled a large number of the longer Tvords. 

I penetrated a wild region among the hills, and my 
own observations and the explorations that I caused to 
be made secured for it the undoubted and undesirable 
preeminence of being the banner county for ignorance 
and destitution of the Bible of all those that I visited. 
In some manner that I do not now remember, on my 
first visit I was directed to call upon one of the preach- 
ers of the county, wdio would cooperate with me in 
making arrangements to have it canvassed and sup- 
plied with the Bible. I found his house among the 
hills in the midst of a vast, dense forest, surrounded 
by a small clearing or " dead'ning," which was planted 
with corn and tobacco. He was rather a short, thick- 
set man, with a j)owerful, muscular frame, and very 
quick and active in his movements. On riding up and 
introducing myself, he gave me a very cordial wel- 
come to his home. It was a log-house, rather larger 
and higher than w^as usual in the region ; but it w^as 
without chambers, and from floor to roof all was a single 
room. His family, including wife, mother.in-law, and 
children, numbered an even dozen. I spent the night 
with them, partaking of such food, using such knife. 



240 IN THE BRUSH. 

fork, and dishes, and occupying, with others, such a bed 
as I can not well describe, and I am sure my readers 
will not be able to imagine. But I had by this time 
become so accustomed to this kind of life in the Brush, 
that, if not pleasant and agreeable to me, it was at least 
not strange, ^ot long before, in a similarly wild re- 
gion, in an adjoining county, I had slept in a much 
smaller cabin with one room, where the man and his 
wife and mother-in-law and four children, with an- 
other visitor besides myself, occupied three beds. I 
shared one of them, upon a very narrow bedstead, with 
the visitor, a neighbor who had called in for a social 
visit, as rough and tough-looking a long-haired back- 
w^oodsman as one often meets, dressed in butternut; 
and a " chunk of a boy," as his father called him, 
about a dozen years old, w^ho was placed in the bed 
between us, with his head at our feet, and ex necessi- 
tate his feet not far from my head. It is a kind of 
lodging that can be endured for a night, as I know 
from positive experience. But I am not prepared to 
recommend it. 

When I arrived at this house, which was about 
dinner-time, I found the children parching corn in a 
spider. The father was absent, and it was necessary 
for me to remain until he returned. The mother made 
no movements toward getting dinner, and said nothing 
about it, which was a very unusual thing in my expe- 
rience. At length the children brought to me some of 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 241 

the corn, which was parched brown, but not popped. 
I had by this time become satisfied that this was to 
be their only dinner, and ate some of it with them. 
The father returned in a few hours, and urged me to 
spend the night with them, which in the circumstances 
I was glad to do ; I could easily have gone farther 
and fared worse. lie soon took a bag and went through 
the woods a mile or two to a neighbor's, and returned 
with some corn-meal and a piece of bacon. The en- 
tirely empty larder being thus replenished, a meal was 
soon cooked, and I sat down to what was to me both 
a dinner and supper of corn-dodger and fried bacon. I 
called upon some of the families in this neighborhood, 
and some months after met one of the young ladies 
at the county-seat. In talking with her in regard to 
this visit, I said : 

"I was told that a number of the young women in 
your neighborhood can not read." 

" Oh ! " said she, " there are but two there that 
can read." 

And yet I was told that there were two or three 
resident preachers there, but I had not time to call 
upon them. As the kind of food and lodging that I 
have described were so common to me, the chief " vari- 
ety" that was the "spice" of my itinerant "life" was 
in the varied characters that I met. And I rarely 
found this "spice" of intenser flavor than in my own 
profession, among some of the preachers that I found 



242 J^ "THE BRUSH. 

in the Brush. The one that I had sought out, and 
with whose family I had spent the night, was one of 
the most remarkable of his type with whom I became 
acquainted. 

In the morning he mounted his horse and rode with 
me to visit and confer with several of the leading citi- 
zens of the county in regard to its exploration, and to 
spend the following day, which was the Sabbath, in 
visiting two different and distant congregations, for 
the purpose of presenting the matter to them, and 
" lifting collections " in its aid. We rode several miles 
through the woods, only occasionally passing a small 
cabin and clearing, and made our first call at a log- 
house, where my clerical friend and guide was evi- 
dently a very great favorite. Here we were urged to 
have our horses put in the stable, and remain to din- 
ner. We assented to this, and arrangements were at 
once made for convening a Bible committee, at a house 
in the neighborhood, that afternoon, and for religious 
services in the house at which we had stopped to dine 
that night. The husband and children at once started 
out to circulate these notices, and the wife began 
her preparations for our dinner. She was apparently 
about thirty years old, above the medium size, in 
a region of country where the most of the women 
were very large, with a bright, pleasant face, a cheer- 
ful, happy disposition, and very cordial and enthusi- 
astic manners. The log-liouse, though not of the best. 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS, 243 

was decidedly of the better class ; and our dinner, both 
in its quality and the manner in which it was served, 
was a great improvement upon my breakfast, and the 
supper the night before. It was a happy group. 
Conversation was cheerful and animated, and geniality 
and joy glowed in all faces and pervaded all hearts. 
Some time after dinner I started with my clerical friend 
on foot through the woods to meet the Bible com- 
mittee. After a pleasant interchange of views, we 
appointed a colporteur to canvass the county, and ad- 
journed. At once we received earnest invitations from 
different ones to go home with them to supper. They 
were unwilling that the family upon which we had 
Urst called should monopolize the pleasure and honor 
of entertaining us. I left my clerical friend to settle 
this matter, and we went a mile or two in another 
direction, where we were hospitably entertained at 
supper. We then returned to the house where we 
had dined, and it was soon filled with people, who 
had assembled upon this brief notice. It was arranged 
that instead of a sermon a chapter should be read, and 
each of us should occupy a portion of the time in 
brief addresses. My friend read the chapter. I was 
astonished. I had never heard the like at any pub- 
lic religious service. Many of the words were mis- 
pronounced and entirely miscalled, and it would have 
been difiicult to understand what was meant, from his 
reading of the passage. But both his reading and re- 



2U . IN THE BRUSH. 

marks were very well receivedj and I saw no one who 
seemed to notice tliat there was anything out of the 
way with either. I followed him with some remarks, 
and the meeting seemed to be greatly enjoyed by all. 
Then began a very spirited contest as to where we 
should go and spend the night. There were many 
claimants for the honor. 

" You must go home with me," said one. 

^' 1^0," said another, " you had Brother A when 

he was here, and you can't have these preachers. They 
must go with me." 

"No," said still another, "you've had the preach- 
ers a heap of times since I have. I hain't had nary 
one in a long time, and they must go hum and stay 
with me." 

For myself, wearied as I was with the varied 
labors of the day, I should have greatly 23referred 
remaining with the family where I was. But I left 
the matter for them to decide, and we soon started 
out, and taking a footpath through the underbrush, 
among the large forest - trees, we went in the darkness 
a mile or two, to an entirely new cabin. The logs 
had been peeled, and it looked very clean and nice. 
A large fire was soon blazing upon a hearth made of 
fresh earth, and roaring up a chimney made of split 
sticks covered with mud. It was the home of a young 
couple, who had but recently married and commenced 
housekeeping. There were two beds in the room. 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 245 

"We sat before the bright fire and talked for some time, 
until I told tliem how weary I was, and they pointed 
out the bed which the preacher and I were to occupy. 
The room was new and bright, and the sense of cleanli- 
ness was most grateful to my feelings. I thought that 
in that new house I should enjoy that rare luxury in 
the cabins in the Brush, a nice, untenanted bed and 
a pleasant sleep. As I turned down the blankets and 
moved my pillow to adjust it, I saw what I at first 
thought was a drop of molasses dried on the sheet. 
I impulsively moved my finger toward the spot to as- 
certain what it was, and it ran ! My pleasant dreams 
were all banished, and I plunged in, in desperation, to 
share my bed with such company as for months and 
years I had found in so many of the log-houses in 
the Brush. The mild climate and the habits of the 
people conspired to make the beds quite too populous 
and rej)ulsive to be described. 

Though my meals were often such that only ne- 
cessity compelled me to partake of them, yet the want 
of beds fit to be occupied by a human being, after my 
long, hard days' rides, was by far the greatest of all 
my privations and trials in the Brush. If I were to 
describe all that I have seen and endured in this mat- 
ter, it would not only be very unpleasant and repulsive 
reading, but would surpass belief with all those not 
personally familiar with the country and the people 
described. 



2i6 IN THE BRUSH. 

After breakfast tlie next morning we walked back 
to the liouse where we had first called and left our 
horses, and sat with the family until it was time to 
leave for church. As we sat together, my clerical 
friend, who was of an inquiring mind, turned to me 
and said, "How do you preach the first seven verses 
of the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes ? " 

I must here say that, in common with the great 
majority of his class, he used the word "preach" in 
the sense of "explain." My friend the Rev. Dr. S. H. 
Tyng, of lN"ew York, once told me that while preach- 
ing in a Southern State, in the early part of his min- 
istry, a preacher of this class made him a visit. Seeing 
a pile of manuscripts upon his study-table, he inquired 
what they were, and was told that they were sermons. 

" Why ! " said he, in astonishment, " how many texts 
can you preach?" 

These men were accustomed to " study " a passage 
in their manner, and form some opinions in regard to 
its meaning, and then they "preached" (explained) it 
on all occasions, with the most positive assurance in 
regard to the correctness of their views. Hence, when 
my friend asked me how I "preached" the passage 
alluded to, he wished from me a full exposition. Tak- 
ing a Bible from the mantel-piece above the large fire- 
place, he turned to the chapter and read the first 
verse, as he had read the night before, and said to me, 
" How do you preach that ? " 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 247 

I gave my views of the passage in as few words 
as possible, and then he proceeded at much greater 
length to tell how he "preached" it. 

As he concluded, the good sister, who had listened 
with face all aglow with delight, exclaimed : " Ah ! 
Brother P has studied that!^'' 

In this manner he read, and we gave our views of 
each of the seven verses. 

His "preach" w^as in each case much longer than 
mine, and invariably drew from the attentively listen- 
ing sister the fervent expression of rapt admiration 
and delight: "Ah! Brother P has studied tJiat!^'' 

I am sorry that I can not tell my readers how he 
"preached" the entire passage; but it was so utterly 
strange, and so entirely unlike anything I had ever 
conceived of as possible to be said in explanation of 
this or any other passage of Scripture, that I confess 
I was obliged to exert myself to the utmost to main- 
tain the gravity becoming my position. If I had 
smiled, I should have given great offense to the de- 
lighted sister, for no enthusiastic lady that I ever saw 
was more proud of her pastor than she was of her 
preacher at that moment. So earnest were my efforts 
to maintain my dignity, and not dishonor my exalted 
position as an agent of the American Bible Society, 
that I could not afterward recall his explanations but 
of two of the passages. I will give but one of them : 
" ' Or ever the silver cord be loosed.' The doctors 



2^8 I^ THE BRUSH. 

say that there is a cord that runs from the nape of 
the neck, down the backbone, through the small of 
the back, into the heart, right thar; and that when a 
man dies that cord always snaps : that is the silver cord 
loosed." (!) 

"Ah!" said the sister, .her face radiant with delight, 
"Brother P has studied that!'' 

I will only add that this is a fair illustration of his 
explanations of all the other verses. If I might mor- 
alize npon this subject, I would repeat the opening 
sentence of this chapter : " I have very often thought 
that the best work that could possibly be prepared in 
favor of an educated ministry, would be to send ste- 
nographers throughout the Brush, to make verbatim 
reports of sermons that are actually preached, and pub- 
lish them in a volume." Soon after this exposition, 
we mounted our horses and attended services at two 

different appointments, Brother P preaching at one 

of them. About a year after this I saw him regularly 
ordained to the full work of a minister of the gospel. 

There are books containing " plans " or " skeletons " 
of sermons, and some clergymen are said to make free 
use of them in the preparation of their sermons. I will 
give one which may aid some limping preacher wdio 
needs such helps, and hereby offer it as a contribution to 
the next volume of skeleton sermons that may be com- 
piled. The sermon was preached to quite a large con- 
gregation in a grove, where I was present and occupied 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PHEAGHERS. 24:9 

the " stand " with the preacher. His text was Job xxvi, 
14 : " Lo, these are parts of his ways : but how little 
a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his 
power who can understand ? " After an introduction 
that was quite as appropriate to any other verse in the 
Bible as to this, the preacher said : 

'-' In further discoursing upon this passage, I shall, 
in the first place, review the chapter, and show what is 
meant by the word ' these.' I shall, in the second place, 
mention some of the works of God. I shall, in the 
third place, conclude, according to circumstances, light 
and liberty being given." 

I must say to my readers, in explanation of his 
"third place," that the "plan" and effort in sermons, 
addresses to juries, political and all other speeches in 
the Southwest, was to wind u^) with as grand and stir- 
ring a conclusion as possible. Here the congregation 
was to be deeply moved, the jury to be melted, and the 
crowd to demonstrate by their applause how they would 
vote. These perorations often reminded me of the 
manner in which the stage-coaches of the olden time 
used to drive into my native village, in the days of my 
boyhood ; when the driver cracked his long whip, blew 
stirring blasts from his tin horn, and his four horses 
rushed up to the village tavern on the jump, his noisy 
demonstrations startling all the villagers. It was so 
with these sermons and speeches. However lame and 
limping in their progress, there was always, if possible, 



250 IN THE BRUSH. 

a rousing conclusion, a demonstrative drive into town. 
Hence, my clerical friend did not wish to embarrass 
himself by announcing definitely what he would say in 
his conclusion; but. left himself free to soar and roar 
" according to circumstances, light and liberty being 
given." lie went through with his sermon according to 
his " plan," but his conclusion did not arouse and move 
his audience like many that I have heard. 

I have already spoken of the genial friend to whom 
I sold my faithful horse, and of the accounts that he 
gave me of the preachers he had known and the 
preaching he had heard. He told me that upon one oc- 
casion he heard the funeral sermon of a child preached 
from the text, *' Write, Blessed are the dead," etc. 
The preacher was so ignorant in regard to spelling that 
he supposed the " wTite " in the text was " right," not 
w-rong, and he endeavored to comfort the parents by 
showing them that it was "right" that people should 
suffer affliction, " right " that their children should sick- 
en and die, and that all the Lord's dealings watli his 
people were "right." 

On another occasion he attended a meeting where a 
number of ministers were present, and the opening ser- 
mon was preached by an old acquaintance and friend, 
who owaied a good plantation, a number of slaves, and 
for many years preached regularly on alternate Sabbaths 
to two quite large congregations. There are many 
thousands of people w-ho rarely, if ever, hear a sermon 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 251 

from an educated minister. These people have strong 
and well-defined notions as to the kind of preaching that 
suits them. If the preacher ranges extensively over the 
Bible, and quotes a great deal of Scripture without any 
regard to its appropriateness or connection with the text, 
they say of him. approvingly : " He's a Scripter preacher. 
He's not a larnt man, but he's a real Scripter preacher." 
Hence, many of these preachers range over both the 
Old and JSTew Testaments in every sermon, and quote as 
much as they can, with as little connection as a page 
in the dictionary. 

The preacher on this occasion took for his text the 
words : " The name of the Lord is a strong tower ; the 
righteous runneth into it, and is safe." He described 
these towers as places of safety, ranged through the 
Old Testament, and, coming down to the New, said: 
" The world was then in an awful condition ; there were 
no towers, no j)laces of safety ! The whole generation 
was without a tower ! ■ You may say : ' How do you 
know this is so? You haven't much learning. You 
haven't read many histories.' Ah ! but I've got Scripter 
for it. I don't want any histories when I've got the 
Bible for it. Here it is. Peter, preaching to them on 
the day of Pentecost, said, ^ Save yourselves from this 
untowered generation.' " 

After the meeting " broke," and they mounted 
their horses to ride to dinner, my old friend said to the 
preacher : 



252 IN THE BRUSH. 

''Why, Brother Mansfield, you made a great mis- 
take in your sermon this morning." 

'' Mistake ! " said he, " what was it, Brother Roach ? " 

" Why, that about the ' untowered generation.' It is 
not untowered," said he ; " it is untoward. It is, ' Save 
yourselves from this untoward generation.' " 

The j)reacher droj^ped his head, thouglit a moment, 
and then said : 

" There can't be any mistake about that. Why, I've 
preached it that way more than a dozen times." 

When they reached the house where they were to 
dine, they found a dictionary, and that was appealed to 
to settle the matter. Alas, that the verdict spoiled a 
favorite sermon ! 

I was about as much astonished at the facts I heard 
in regard to the salaries that were paid to these preach- 
ers, with all the formalities of a regular contract, as at 
anything I ever learned in regard to their preaching. 
I once occupied the pulj^it with one of them, in a church 
w^hich was a large, barn-like brick structure, having four 
doors, one near each corner, for the ingress and egress of 
the congregation. This preacher was a great favorite in 
the region, with both the white and colored people, and 

was familiarly known as "Jimmy B ." He had 

stentoriaii lungs, was wonderfully voluble, and his sing- 
song "holy tone" was most delightful to his audience. 
It was a warm summer day, and the house was packed 
with whites dressed in butternut jeans, and groups of 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 253 

colored people were standing outside near each open 
window. It was a monthly service, and all seemed to 
enjoy it greatly. 

In the afternoon, after the custom of the Southwest, 
he preached to the '' servants," and I again . occupied a 
seat in the pulpit with him. His colored audience was 
moved by his stentorian voice and avalanche of words 
to the extremest excitement and joy. At the conclusion 
of his sermon they could not separate without singing 
some of their '-breaking" songs, and all marching by 
the 23ul2)it and shaking hands with the preachers. This 
hand-shaking was one of the most marked features of 
their religious services, and these " breaking " or part- 
ing exercises have afforded me the opportunity of hear- 
ing the grandest, wildest, most beautiful and genuine 
African melodies to which I have ever listened. As I 
was a ^' visiting brother," I was entitled to as warm and 
cordial a greeting as the one who had preached. The 
leader commenced a hymn familiar to the large audience, 
and they began to sing and move in procession by the 
low pulpit where we were standing, shaking hands with 
each of us as they passed. As the long procession Hied 
by, their dark faces shining with delight, the music 
arose louder, wilder, and more exciting, until they 
seemed entirely unconscious of the strength of the grip 
they gave my poor, suffering hand. I was unwilling 
to mar their joy by withdrawing it altogether, and, to 
save it from being utterly crushed, I resorted to the ex- 



254 ^^ THE BRUSH. 

pedient of suddenly clutching the end of the fingers of 
each hand that was extended to me by the excited and 
happy singers, and so they were unable to give me 
their vise -like squeeze, and I escaped comparatively 
unharmed. The hand - shaking ended, the meeting 
''broke," and they all dispersed, masters and slaves 
highly delighted with the preacher and all the services 
of the day. 

My host upon this occasion was the hotel-keeper 
of the place. In talking with him about the great 
popularity of this preacher, he said that, if equally 
extended notice should be given that he would preach 
there on one Sabbath, and the Kev. Dr. Young, the 
learned and eloquent President of the college at Dan- 
ville, would preach there on another, Jimmy B 

v/ould call together the largest audience. At another 
place, when quite a number of persons were present, 
reference was made to the salary that was received by 
this popular favorite. I made particular inquiries upon 
this subject, and learned that the church negotiated with 
him to preach for them one Sabbath each month during 
the year, for one dollar a Sabbath. Hence, they paid 
him twelve dollars a year for one fourth of his time. 
Some of them thought that as neither he nor any other 
good hand could at that time get more than fifty cents 
a day for mauling rails, hoeing corn, or any other labor, 
this salary was rather excessive ; but in consideration of 
the fact that he had to leave home on Saturday even- 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 255 

ing in order to meet his appointment, and furnish his 
own riding-nag, thej magnanimously voted him the 
full dollar a Sunday, "for one fourth of his time." I 
was informed that he preached to other churches, but 
did not learn that any of them paid him a larger salary. 

In another place that I visited, the Rev. James L 

had preached to the same church twenty-one years, and 
he said the largest sum he had ever received for preach- 
ing in any one year v/as twenty dollars, and he had 
often received less than ten dollars ! Yery many of 
these churches were entirely satisfied if they had regu- 
lar preaching once a month. In riding through the 
Brush, I used often to gratify my curiosity by making 
inquiries in regard to the salaries received by those who 
preached in the churches that I passed. Once, in riding 
late in the evening, I overtook — or, in the vernacular of 
the region, " met up with " — a boy some twelve or four- 
teen years old, who was riding a mule. After exchang- 
ing "howd'ys," I found him very loquacious, and dis- 
posed to enlighten me in regard to everything in the 
neighborhood. I asked him what salary they paid their 
preacher. " Oh ! " said he, " they pay the one they have 
got now right smart. They give him a dollar and a 
half a Sunday." 

We passed a church where the members washed one 
another's feet at each communion. I made some in- 
quiries in regard to the ceremony, and he told me the 
brethren washed only the brethren's feet, and the sisters 



256 I^ THE BRUSH. 

the sisters' feet. I told liim that I supposed tliej only 
sprinkled water upon their feet — they did not wash 
much. "" Oh ! " said he, '^ sometimes they gets happy, and 
washes right hard." I had spent a Sabbath at a meeting 
in the woods with the poet of this denomination, and 
purchased of him a hymn-book that he had been duly 
authorized to compile and publish for them, containing 
some hymns that he had written to be sung at these 
feet-washing servjces. lie was one of the most illiterate 
men I ever met. I regret to say that I have lost the 
book, and can not transcribe some of these original 
hymns for the benefit of my readers. I had a good 
deal of conversation with this " poet," and he told me he 
was at the time engaged in teaching school. I after- 
ward met the school commissioner, a lawyer, at the 
county-seat, who had examined him and given him his 
license to teach, and rallied him jocosely for giving a 
man that was so ignorant, authority to teach a public 
school. 

" Oh ! " said he, "I only certified that he was com- 
petent to teach in that neighbor JioodP 

For years I was accustomed to avail myself of every 
opportunity of hearing these illiterate preachers, both 
white and colored, consistent with my other duties. It 
was a new and interesting study to me. Sometimes I 
got rare kernels of wheat in the midst of a great deal 
of chaff, rich nuggets of gold among a great deal of 
sand and rubbish ; and I always felt more than repaid 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 257 

for the time thus expended. It was interesting to ob- 
serve the workings of minds, often of superior natural 
powers, in their attempts to ehicidate the Scriptures. 
It was especially strange to hear them render any Script- 
ure narrative, entirely in their own Brush vernacular. 
I have often regretted that I did not take down many 
of these narratives of Bible facts at the time I heard 
them. But the unusual sight of a person thus em- 
ployed in a congregation would attract more attention 
than the preacher himself, and I was therefore unwill- 
ing to do it. But I can give my readers a very correct 
idea of these narratives. 

In riding through a very rough, wild region, I fell 
in company with a gentleman on horseback, and rode 
some distance with him. He told me that a preacher, 
who was so illiterate that it was with the greatest 
difficulty that he could study out a chapter in the 
Bible, sometimes preached in a log schoolhouse in his 
neighborhood, and he had heard him the Sabbath be- 
fore. It was in a region where a rough-and-tumble 
fight would attract more attention than anything else. 
The preacher had a theme of the deepest interest to 
himself and the most of his congregation. This gen- 
tleman gave me quite a full outline of the discourse, 
and I write it out from his description, and fill it up 
as my extended acquaintance with these people, and 
knowledge of their vernacular, derived from years of 
constant mingling with them, enable me to do. 



258 /-^V THE BRUSH. 

"Last week, my breetlirin, as I was a-readin' my 
Bible, I found a story of a big fight (1 Samuel, xvii). 
It was powerful interestin', and I studied it 'most 
all the week. There was two armies campin' on two 
mountains right fornenst each other ; and a holler and, 
I reckon, some good bottom-land and a medder-lot 
lying between 'em. In one of the armies there was a 
big feller — a whoppin', great, big feller — and every 
day he w^ent down into the medder-lot and looked up 
the hill to t'other camp, and jest dared 'em! He told 
'em to pick their best man and send him down, and 
he'd fight him. And he jest strutted around there in 
his soger- close, and waited for 'em to send on their 
man. And such soger -close I never heerd tell on 
afore. He had a brass cap and brass trousers, and a 
coat made like mail-bags where they are all ironed and 
riveted together. But the fellers in t'other camp 
just clean flunked. They darn't fight the big feller, 
nary one of 'em. They jest all sneaked away, and 
the big feller he went back to camp. But he didn't 
quit thar, the big feller didn't. He was spilin' for a 
fight, and he was bound to have it. He jest went 
down into the bottom-land, into the medder-lot, every 
day, mornin' and evenin', and dared 'em and dared 
'em. I tell you he did pester 'em mightily. The old 
feller, Saul, the gineral, he felt more chawed up and 
meaner than the sogers, and, when he couldn't stan' 
it no longer, he told the boys if any of 'em would 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 259 

go down and lick that big feller he'd give him his 
gal, and a right smart chance of plunder. But they 
was all so sheer' d that even that didn't start one of 
'em. The big feller went down and dared 'em and 
pestered 'em more'n a month — forty days, the Bible 
says. I don't know what they'd a - done if it hadn't a- 
be'n that a peart little feller had come down to camp 
one day to fetch some extra rations to his three big 
brothers, that their old dad had sent to 'em from 
home. Kind old pap he was, and sharp, too, for he 
sent along a big present to the boys' cap'en. Well, 
jest as little brother drove up, they was all gwine 
out to fight, and the little feller left his traps with 
the driver, legged it after the sogers, and told his 
big brothers howd'y. Right thar the old big feller 
come out and dared 'em agin, and they was all so 
skeer'd that they jest run like mad. The little feller 
heerd him, and then went back into camp and heerd 
all the sogers talking about him, and what the old 
gineral would give to have him licked. He asked 
'em a heap of questions about it all, and big brother 
he got mad at him, and twitted him about keeping 
sheep, and give him a right smart of sass. lie was 
plucky, but you see he had to stan' it, 'cause 'twas 
big brother. Big brothers are mighty mean sometimes. 
"But the little feller talked a heap with the other 
sogers, and they told the old gineral about him, and 
he told them to tell the little feller to come and see 



260 IN THE BRUSH. 

him. The little feller was mighty plucky, and he jest 
up and told the old Gineral Saul that he'd fight the 
tig feller ! The gineral looked at the handsome little 
feller — he was raal handsome — and ses he, kinder soft- 
ly, I reckon, and shakin' his head : ^ It's too big a job ; 
you're only a chunk of a boy, and he's an old fighter.' 
The little feller spunked up and told the old gineral 
that he'd had one b'ar-fight, and he'd killed the b'ar. 
He said there was an old lion and a b'ar s^ot amonor 
his dad's sheep, and was gwine off with a lamb. He 
broke for 'im, and as soon as he met up with the old 
b'ar he lamm'd him, till the b'ar turned on him for a 
hug; but he got one hand into the long ha'r, under 
his jaw, and he lamm'd him with the other till he was 
dead. He'd killed the lion and the b'ar, and he know'd 
he was enough for the old big feller. 

" Then the little feller talked raal religious to the 
old gineral. You see he'd got religion afore that, and 
he know'd that the Lord would help a feller, if he was 
all right, and got in a tight place. He told Gineral 
Saul that the Lord had made him mighty supple, and 
looked out for him when the old lion and b'ar tried 
to get their paws into him ; and he knew he'd see him 
through the fight with the old big feller; for he was 
jest darin' 'em and pesterin' 'em to make game of relig- 
ion. When the old gineral seed he was so plucky, 
and religious too, he know'd them's the kind that fit 
powerful, and he told him to go in, and he made a 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 261 

little pra'r for liim hisself. Then the old gineral put 
his own soger-close on the little feller, and strapped 
his sword on to him. But they was all a heap too big, 
and he shucked 'em off d'reetly, and made for a dry 
branch down in the bottom. There he hunted five 
little rocks, smooth as a hen-egg, put 'em in a little 
bag where he carried his snack when he was a-tendin' 
the sheep, got his sling fixed all right, and hurried up 
to meet the old big feller in the medder-lot. When 
he seed him comin' he was powerful mad they'd sent 
down such a little feller, and jawed awful. But the 
little feller jest talked back religious, and kept his eye 
peeled. And I reckon the big feller couldn't a be'n a 
lookin'. I've studied a heap on it, and I jest know 
the big feller couldn't a-be'n a-lookin' ; for the little 
feller got out his sling, and drew away, and shied a 
little rock at him, and he popped him, and down he 
tumbled. Then the little feller rushed up and mounted 
on him, jest as an old hunter loves to get on a b'ar after 
he's shot him ; and he out with the big feller's long 
sword and off with his head. Then it was them Phil- 
istine sinners' turn to be skeer'd, and they broke for the 
brush ; and all them chil'en of Israel fellers jest shouted 
and chased 'em clean over the mountain into a valley, 
and then com'd back and got all their camp-plunder. 
" My breethrin, that's the best story of a fight I ever 
read after ; and you can't buy no better story-book than 

this 'ere Bible." 
12 



IN THE BRUSH, 



If the facts presented in this chapter make a draft 
on the credence of any of my readers that they find 
it difficult to honor, 1 respectfully commend to them 
the study of the late United States census, especially 
its portrayal of the illiteracy of the late slave States. 
The figures are as humiliating as they are startling. 
They seem at length to be forcing themselves upon 
the attention of the President, Congress, and the coun- 
try. But no figures can ever make any such impres- 
sion as the actual personal contact I have had with 
thousands of these people in their own homes, since 
the commencement of my labors among them in 1843. 

But my account of " Old-Time Illiterate Preachers 
in the Southwest" would be very incomplete if it did 
not include some of the notable 



NEGRO PREACHERS OF THE OLD REGIME. 

I used to take great interest in hearing them preach, 
and availed myself of every possible opportunity to do 
so, consistent with my duties. Many of these preach- 
ers were ver}^ devout and godly men. They had good 
judgment, strong native sense, and exerted a great in- 
fluence over the slaves, which was highly appreciated 
by their masters. They also gratified in a measure the 
religious instincts of the slaves, by officiating at their 
weddings and funerals. 

One of the largest, most orderly, and impressive 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 263 

funeral processions that I have ever witnessed, was that 
of an old negro preacher at Lexington, Kentucky, who 
had been the pastor of a large colored church in that 
city for many years. It was upon a Sabbath afternoon, 
during a meeting of the Synod of Kentucky, which I 
was attending. Hundreds of slaves came in from the 
surrounding country, and it was estimated that there 
were from two to three thousand in the procession. 
Nearly every family-carriage in the city and the sur- 
rounding country was in the line, occupied by the " fam- 
ily servants." These carriages were sent by the owners, 
as their tribute to the old preacher for his great and 
good influence over their slaves. The most of the men 
marched some four or six abreast, with slow and solemn 
tread, and that silent aw^e to which their natures are so 
susceptible in the presence of death. 

I knew another negro preacher, and often heard him 
address his people, for whom I had the profoundest 
resjDect. He was a devout and saintly man, and his 
dignified port and bearing were those of a born gentle- 
man. He was often engaged the whole week " attend- 
ing masons." I have often met him as he was driving 
a horse, sitting upon a w^agon-load of mortar, thoroughly 
bespattered, and received from him a bow so easy, dig- 
nified, and graceful, that many a Governor and Con- 
gressman that I have known might well covet his dis- 
tinguished bearing. 

Upon one occasion I heard him preach a sermon to 



264 IN THE BRUSH. 

his congregation, enforcing the duty of keeping tlieir 
hearts pure and free from all evil thoughts, when he 
abruptly broke forth : '.' But you say, ' I can't, I can't. 
These bad thoughts come to me, and I can't help it.' I 
know you can't help it," said he, " and I know, too, that 
you can't help the birds flying over your heads ; but 
you can help their building nests in your ha'r" (hair). 

The public political, theological, and other discus- 
sions, that I have already described in this volume, de- 
veloped a love of religious controversy in the South- 
west such as I have never known among any other 
people. 

The negroes were echoes and imitators of the whites 
in this respect as in others. Morning services were 
for the white congregations, but slaves usually attended 
them, often in large numbers. The afternoons were 
mostly given up to the colored people, and they were 
free to attend religious services, whether they were 
ministered to by white or negro preachers. If there 
was a public discussion, or any special interest or ex- 
citement upon any subject at the morning service, that 
was almost certain to be the theme of the negro preach- 
er's discourse to his afternoon audience. 

The overwhelming majority of colored church-mem- 
bers were either Baptists or Methodists. The differ- 
ences of these churches in doctrinal belief were the 
theme of almost endless controversy between the colored 
champions and defenders of these opposing creeds. 



■ OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 265 

Some of these discussions were original and spicy 
beyond anything I have ever heard of in the Hne of 
theological controversy. I will give a few characteristic 
illustrations. 

I had preached in the morning at a small county-seat 
village, and after dinner set out, with a venerable and 
estimable Methodist " local preacher," to attend his 
afternoon appointment. After a ride of several miles, 
we reached the brow of a very deep and narrow ravine^ 
which we were to cross. At the moment of our arrival 
a venerablcj gray-haired black man, mounted upon a fine 
horse, appeared upon the opposite brow. At the first 
sight of him I turned to my companion and said : 

" That must be a brother preacher." 

" Oh, yes," said he, " he is a very distinguished 
preacher. He is the champion and defender of the 
Methodist Church among the colored people in all this 
region. He is an old and favorite family servant, and 
his master, who is a graduate of "West Point, allows him 
to use that fine horse in going to his afternoon appoint- 
ments." 

As we passed him, he returned " the bow profession- 
al " with a dignity and a Methodistic swing that would 
have done honor to such old itinerants as Bishop As- 
bury and Bishop "Soule. Such was my first acquaintance 
with the Rev. Nathan Board, whose controversial ex- 
ploits I am about to relate. • As we rode on, my friend 
informed me that upon one occasion, when Nathan was 



266 ^^ TEE BRUSH. 

present at a Baptist cliurcli at a communion, the preach- 
er, in giving the reason why tliey did not invite those of 
other denominations who were present to commune with 
them, said : 

" We are not alone and singular in the fact that we 
do not invite you all to commune with us. Presbyteri 
ans fence the tables. Methodists fence the tables. All 
other denominations fence the tables. They do not 
allow anybody and everybody to commune with them. 
We all fence the tables. The only difference is, that the 
Baptist fence is a little higher than any of the others." 

In the afternoon Kathan preached to his people, and 
as some of them had been present in the morning and 
heard this address, he had to answer it for their benefit. 
After repeating the whole address, he said: 

"ISTow, my bruddren, I'd rather have a low fence 
and a tight one, than a high fence and a good many 
holes in it." 

As these Baptists were of the anti-mission class, who 
opposed an educated and paid ministry. Sabbath-schools, 
Bible societies, and all mission enterprises, but favored 
good Bourbon, Nathan's reply was regarded as decidedly 
personal, and some of them thought he ought to be 
" whooped " (whipped) for his impudence. 

A few weeks after this I reached 'a county-seat vil- 
lage upon the Ohio Kiver, and learned that it had re- 
cently been the theatre of a very exciting theological 
controversy among the slaves. 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 267 

A colored Baptist preacher, of great reputation 
among liis brethren for boldness and polemical skill as 
the champion and defender of his denomination, a Cal- 
vinist of the stern John Knox order, became greatly 
excited on account of what he esteemed the heretical 
doctrines and bad influence of Methodism. After ma- 
ture deliberation, he determined that he would wage 
against it a war of extermination in the community. 

Having formed this resolution, for successive Sab- 
baths he labored in the work, and discharged his bat- 
teries with most telling effect. His victory was a signal 
one. Arminianism was overwhelmed — the Methodists 
w^ere completely routed. They had no preacher that 
they dared to put up to answer their opponent, and they 
could only manfull}^ acknowledge that they were beaten 
for the present, and adjourn their defense to some 
future day. I was only able to learn the manner in 
w^hich he discussed the antagonistic Arminian and Cal- 
vinistic doctrines of " falling from grace," and the " per- 
severance of the saints." But, if that was a specimen 
of the entire discussion, any one at all acquainted with 
slave preaching, with the frequent use made by these 
preachers of illustrations and comparisons, and the 
great effects produced by them upon the minds of the 
slaves, can well understand how this preacher had such 
power over his audience. It was as follows : 

" De Methodiss, my bruddren, is like de grass- 
hopper — hoppin', all de time hoppin' — hop into heaven. 



268 I^ THE BRUSH. 

ho J) out, hop into heaven, hop out. But, my bruddren, 
de Baptiss, when he get to heaven, he's dar ! De 
Baptiss is like de 'possum. Hunter get after him, he 
climb de tree ; he shake de hmb, one foot gone ; he 
shake de limb, anudder foot gone ; he shake de limb, 
ebbery foot gone ; but tink you, my bruddren, ^jpossum 
fall? You know, my bruddren — you cotch too many 
— ^you know ^jpossum hang on 'by de tail., and de berry 
debbil can't shake him off ! " 

The head Methodists, after many conferences, con- 
cluded that they would make one desperate effort to 
save their cause. After discussing the merits of all 
their preachers far and near, they decided to send for 
the Eev. Nathan Board, the veteran war-horse in theo- 
logical polemics I have already introduced to my read- 
ers. This venerable preacher of the olden time was a 
genuine African, and entered his profession before it 
was fashionable for those of his class to learn to read ; 
but he had a strong memory, which made up some- 
what for this ''defect" in his education, and, if he 
could not remember the very thing that he wished to. 
repeat, he could always remember something ', and, 
therefore, he was never at a loss for a quotation from 
Scripture, or an illustration. 

The appointed Sabbath arrived, and ISTathan was 
on the ground. The intense excitement among the 
blacks had aroused the curiosity of the whites, and 
there was a general turnout of white and black to 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREAGHEES. 269 

hear Nathan's defense. His brethren had in private 
gone over all the strong points that had been made 
by their opponent, had given him a graphic and glow- 
ing picture of the utterly prostrate condition of their 
cause, and with the eloquence of the deepest feeling 
had endeavored to impress him with the magnitude 
of the interests involved in his success or failure. 
]N'athan was greatly excited, but he was confident of 
his ability to meet the emergency. He had not read 
books, but in the previous fifty years he had witnessed 
many a fierce and bitter contest between successive 
Governors, Congressmen, and others, in their hot race 
for ofi^ice, and his polemical tastes had made him a 
close observer of the various methods of meeting and 
overwhelming an opponent. That my readers may un- 
derstand what follows, I must premise that the Ameri- 
can Bible Union, under the presidency of the He v. 
Spencer H. Cone, D. D., was at the time very earnestly 
engaged in the revision of the Bible ; that the Baptist 
churches in the Southwest very generally cooperated 
in this work; that pastors of churches and agents of 
the society were urging its necessity, and soliciting 
collections in its aid ; and that the other denominations 
were very generally defending King James's transla- 
tion, and opposing the new version. Hence the ques- 
tion was the subject of almost universal discussion by 
the white clergymen ; and, as I have already said, the 
colored preachers were but their echoes — they all felt 



270 IN' THE BRUSH. 

called upon to enlighten their congregations upon this, 
as npon all other questions. 

Having gone through the preliminary services, Na- 
than arose and commenced his sermon as follows : 

"My bruddren, I has been sent for to come here 
and preach, and, when I gets t'rough, you'll t'ink I has 
preached. You'll find my text, if my memory sarve 
me, in de book of de Revolution : ' For de great day of 
his raif is come, and who do you t'ink is gwine to stand ? ' " 

Nathan was too full to sj^end any time in introduc- 
tion. He broke out at once, in the most emphatic 
manner : " And do you t'ink, my bruddren, de Bapytiss 
will den be able to stand?" Shutting his eyes and 
shaking his head most dubiously, with his peculiar gut- 
tural "Umph! ah! my Lord! and you'll see 'em pad 
dling den. All de water in de Ohio Eiver won't save 
'em den ; dey'U call for de rocks and de mountains to 
fall on 'em in dat great day of his raff^ and I'll tell 
you, my bruddren, dat a hot rock will be a mighty 
tight place for a Baptiss." 

Having thus given vent to his feelings, in imitation 
of Cicero's immortal jDhilippic against Catiline, he pro- 
ceeded with more deliberation and at great length to 
review the entire ground that had been traveled over 
by his theological assailant. 

The grasshopper, the 'possum, and all the other 
strong points were taken up and disposed of to the 
entire satisfaction of his brethren. The stunning blows 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 271 

that lie had dealt in his opening pas&age were followed 
by others, scarcely less telling, all the way through to 
the peroration. Already he saw in the faces of his 
audience undoubted evidence of the success of his 
efforts, and he was flushed with victory. His tone 
became triumphant, if not overbearing. His bitterness 
and severity would surely have been entirely inexcusa 
ble, but for the excitement he was under from the ter- 
rible provocation. That " grasshopper " comparison was 
the most damaging assault upon Methodism, the most 
crushing blow to Arminianism, that he had ever been 
called upon to repel, in all the long years of his min- 
istry. That of itself was enough to fire all the blood 
of this old theological war-horse. And then to follow 
that with the " 'possum " — that was the crowning indig- 
nity — that was a Calvinistic blow administered to an 
already crushed and fallen foe, which Nathan's Armin- 
ian blood was fired to punish to the very utmost ex- 
tent of his power. In Nathan's intense admiration for 
his Master he had, with the extraordinary imitative pow- 
ers of his race, taken on, in addition to the clerical, a 
very decided military bearing. In his composite charac- 
ter, he represented the dignity of the bishop and the bold- 
ness and dash of the successful general. He was, there- 
fore, a very striking representative of the " church mili- 
tant," and he put into the remainder of his defense 
the concentrated polemical power of the two profes- 
sions. He proceeded ; 



272 I^ TEE BR USE. 

" De Baptiss, mj bruddren, is in such a gone case, 
dey is in sucli a miglity tight fix, dat de ole Bible — de 
Bible dat all de faders and mudders have gone to heaven 
wid — de Bible dat dey used to love such a heap — de 
ole Bible dat fill us wid de hebbenly fire all de way 
along de road to Canaan — dat ole Bible, my bruddren, 
is no account any more to de Baptiss, and dey say dat 
the Baptiss is a gwine to get up a new deversion. In 
de ole Bible it reads, if my memory sarve me, 'In 
dose days came John de Baptiss.' Dey say in de new 
deversion its gwine to read, 'In dose days came John 
de Immerser' — HainH dar, my bruddren. In de ole 
Bible it reads, if my memory sarve me, ' He shall 
baptize you wid de Holy Gliost and wid de fire.' Dey 
say dat in de new deversion it's gwine to read, 'He 
shall immerse you wid de Holy Ghost and wid de 
fire ' — tainH dar, my bruddren ! Immersin' wid fire, 
my bruddren ! — immersin' wid fire ! Who ever read 
in de Bible 'bout immersin' wid fire, only dem chiren 
of de three Hebrewsers? Dey was immersed wid fire 
— dem three Hebrewsers dat was put into de furnace, 
heated seven times hot by de dedict of ^ebuckefalus 
— what you call 'em now" (scratching his head) — 
" Shamrack, Shimshack, and Bedgone. Dey ar all dat 
we read in de Bible 'l)Out bein' immersed wid fire." 

This was the finishing blow. Xathan sat down. 
The excitement and joy of his brethren were unbound- 
ed. They shouted, danced, shook hands, hugged, and 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 273 

yielded themselves up to that perfect luxury of excited, 
joyous feeling of which they alone seem capable. 

My esteemed friend the late Hev. W. W. Hill, 
D. D., to whom my readers are indebted for the story 
of the candidate and his Greek quotations, gave me 
the following facts, illustrating the argumentative 
power of an old-time slave preacher : 

At the commencement of the Doctor's ministry he 
was for several years the pastor of a church that had 
been founded in the early history of the State, and 
ministered to for a lifetime by a distinguished Scotch 
minister. He had indoctrinated the entire community, 
and built up a very strong Presbyterian church. Dr. 
Hill, who was a native of the State, and greatly in- 
terested in the colored people, was very often invited 
to preach to a colored Baptist church in the afternoon, 
which he always did with the greatest pleasure. It is 
perhaps not known to all my readers that the slaves 
always assumed and stoutly maintained among them- 
selves the relative social rank and position of their 
masters. If the master was a President, Governor, 
Member of Congress, Judge, or a man of large 
wealth, all his slaves participated in his honors, and 
often bore them more conspicuously and proudly than 
he did. 

It so happened that in Dr. Hill's congregation the 
families of highest social position were Presbyterians. 
Some of the slaves, quite naturally for them, got the 



274 IN THE BRUSH. 

impression that the Presbyterian Church was " de 
'ristoratic church," and thought it would be a nice 
thing if they could have a Presbyterian church for 
the colored people. But they w^ere all thoroughly in- 
doctrinated in the Baptist creed — and there was the 
rub. " Christ went down into the water, and came 
up oitt of the water." That, in their minds, was the 
hard thing to be overcome. But the desire to attain 
social elevation through church relations has often 
caused other than colored people to make extraor- 
dinary struggles, and they were willing to put forth 
the effort. After many conferences upon the subject 
among themselves, they concluded to invite Dr. Hill 
to preach on the subject of baptism, and explain and 
defend the Presbyterian views. They accordingly 
called on him, and presented their request, w^hich sur- 
prised him very much. He said to them : 

"I have preached for you, whenever you have in- 
vited me, for several years, and you all know that 
I have never said one word upon the subject of bap- 
tism. I do not like to do it now. The people will 
not understand it, and will think I am trying to prose- 
lyte you." 

But they told him that they had been appointed 
a committee to invite him to preach on the sub- 
ject, and that it would be understood by all that he 
preached on baptism at their request. Upon this 
statement he accepted the invitation and afterward 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 275 

preached for them as requested. But liis effort was a 
decided failure ; he did not " move de difficulties." 
" Christ went down into the water, and came up out 
of the water." That was still the great stumbling- 
block in the way of the organization of a Presby- 
terian church for the colored people. Some weeks 
afterward Judge Green, of Danville, Kentucky, drove 
over in his family carriage to make a visit and 
spend a Sabbath with some of his friends in this 
congregation. 

It soon became noised abroad among the slaves 
that the driver of this distinguished jurist was not 
only, like his master, a Presbyterian, but he was a 
noted Presbyterian preacher.* 

The committee who had invited Dr. Hill to make 
the effort that proved so unsuccessful, at once waited 
upon their distinguished visitor, and invited him to 
preach to them upon the subject of baptism. He was 
from Danville, the seat of a Presbyterian college, the 
Jerusalem of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky. 
Hence the honor of that Church among the colored 
people of that State was largely in his keeping, and 
he appreciated his responsibilities. He accepted the 
invitation promptly, and, like the Kev. Nathan Board, 



* I do not know that I need to say that these slave preachers were not 
regularly licensed and ordained by any ecclesiastical body. They simply 
assumed the profession, and were recognized as preachers among their own 
people. 



276 /^ THE BRUSH. 

he was confident and eager to stand forth as the 
champion of his church. He was greeted with a large 
congregation, and his effort was a decided success. 

Some days after, Dr. Hill met some of the com- 
mittee, and said to them : 

" I understand that this colored Presbyterian minis- 
ter from Danville preached on baptism last Sunday, and 
that he has made the whole matter entirely clear and 
satisfactory to you all." 

They assured him that that was true. 

"Now," said the Doctor, "that seems very strange 
to me. You all profess to like my preaching, and are 
generally full of compliments and thanks for my ser- 
mons. I have done my very best for you on this sub- 
ject of baptism. I have told you all I know — all I have 
learned from Hebrew and Greek — and it did not do one 
bit of good. And now this colored minister from Dan- 
ville preaches to you, and beats me entirely. He makes 
the whole subject plain and satisfactory to you. Can 
you tell me what he said ? " 

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!" they responded. "His tex' 
was, 'My sheep hears my voice, and I knows them, 
and dey follows me.' Den he said, 'In de Bible de 
Christians is de sheep.' He had a heap of Bible on 
dat p'int, and he preached a mighty long time and 
make dat so strong, no nigger can't 'spute it. And 
den he said, mighty strong, 'Now, my bruddren and 
sisters, you all knows you can't get a sheep into de wa- 



OLD-TIME ILLITERATE PREACHERS. 277 

ter nohow, 'less you cotcli liim and carries him in.' 
And, preacher, you knoAvs dat is so yourself." 

I give these truthful sketches of old-time slave 
preachers and preaching in the hope that others may 
follow my example, and preserve as many as possible of 
these illustrations of a state of things now rapidly pass- 
ing away, through the labors of an educated ministry. 



CHAPTEK Xy. 



ORTONVILLE " ; OK, THE UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED 
SONG. 



I HAVE a distinct recollection of the circumstances 
of my first acquaintance with '' Ortonville," a piece of 
sacred music by the late Professor Thomas Hastings. 
It was more than forty years ago. The church choir 
in my native place, a small country village in western 
New York, had gone down to that sad j)ass, that for 
several Sabbaths the alternative was either to have no 
singing at all, or a maiden lady, a veteran member of 
the choir, must "pitch the tune." This, even in the 
estimation of the most staid and least nervous of the 
congregation, was quite too bad ; and the matter was 
taken up and talked over in earnest at the village store, 
where all matters public and private, pertaining to the 
neighborhood and town were discussed, and public senti- 
ment on all questions was regulated, like the price of 
stocks at a board of brokers. The result of this discus- 
sion was, that a subscription-paper was started, and a 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 279 

singing-master employed for one evening each week 
during the winter, who, according to immemorial custom, 
was paid three dollars an evening for his services, and 
the school was free to all who were disposed to attend. 

A country singing-school — wdio, that has ever at- 
tended one, is not carried back to some of the most 
delightful scenes of his earlier years by the mere men- 
tion of the name? What visions of early playmates 
and schoolmates, of bright moonlight rides, with the 
merry chimes of bells and shouts of joyous hearts, as 
gronp after group from different families was gathered 
for the school, and crowded into the capacious sleigh — 
mothers' warm, home-made mittens, stockings, and flan- 
nels, and all the buffalo-robes in the neighborhood, bid- 
ding defiance to an atmosphere at zero ! And then the 
frank, unstudied greetings and companionship at the vil- 
lage church ; the lighting of candles that each one had 
brought from home (no lamps or sextons in those days) ; 
the first essays, of each pupil alone, at the ascending 
and descending scale, wdth this one's failure and that 
one's success ; the coquettings and rivalries of the ^' in- 
termission," and the successful and unsuccessful offers 
of the youthful beaux to " go home with the girls " at 
the close of the school — these and a thousand other 
pleasant memories come thronging upon the mind at 
tlie remembrance of a country singing-school ! 

We had spent several evenings upon the rudiments, 
singing from the blackboard; the teacher had decided 



280 



IN THE BRUSH. 



that tlie old books would not do (what singing-school 
teacher since that day, in view of his commissions on 
the new book, has failed to reach the same conclusion ?) ; 
and we had obtained the " Manhattan Collection," which 
w^as just then a candidate for public favor. Several 
of the old members of the choir were standinof in a 
group, during an "intermission," expressing their opin- 
ions on the merits of the new book, when Deacon Ar- 
nold said to the teacher : 

" Here is a new tune I should like to have you look 
at — ' Ortonville.' I have hummed it over, and it seems 
a very good one." 

The teacher glanced over it, said they would try 
it, and very soon the school were singing — 

"Majestic sweetness sits enthroned," 

as those words have been sung a thousand times to 
the sweet and simple notes of — 

ORTONVILLE. C. M. Thomas Hastings, Mus. Doc. 




head with radiant gloiy crowned, His lips with grace o'erflow, His lips with grace o'eiflow. 

I I 



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4— l_J_4. 



-J Me- 



rg=«: 



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t::t=t: 



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t — r 



UmVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 281 

Such was my first acquaintance witli tliis piece of 
sacred music. Little did I then think that it was an 
acquaintance I was to meet in such different and dis- 
tant parts of the world, in so many and such varied 
circumstances, and that was to afford me such peculiar 
pleasure. 

I need hardly say that "Ortonville" became at 
once a favorite wdth our school. The new scholars 
were most apt to strike upon it, if they happened to 
be in a mood for singing, as they were busy at their 
winter's tasks — foddering the cattle and other stock at 
the barn, watering the horses, carrying .in the wood 
for the evening and morning fires in the ample old- 
fashioned fireplaces, or doing any little chores about 
the house. 

The teacher was pretty sure to select it if the min- 
ister or influential members of the congregation came 
in to see how the school was getting along; as, some- 
how, they always seemed to be in better time and 
tune, and do more for the credit of the school, and 
the satisfaction of those who had raised the subscrip- 
tion, when they sang this, than in singing any other 
tune. Yery soon it was sung everywhere, and those 
who could sing at all had learned it by rote, at least, 
as a necessity. The choir were not only better satis- 
fied with themselves, but the minister seemed to preach 
with more animation, when " Ortonville " was sung 
upon the Sabbath, and prayer-meetings that were dull 



282 IN THE BR VSR. 

and uninteresting would take a new start when "Or- 
tonville" was started. For not only all the new sing- 
ers could sing, but all the old men and women who 
had been members of the choir when the country was 
first settled, and the hardy Puritan pioneers, in the ab- 
sence of a minister, had what w^ere called " deacon- 
meetings," the schoolmaster, or whoever was regarded 
as the best reader in the settlement, reading a sermon. 

It was not long before it was found out that we 
were not alone in our admiration of the new favorite. 
In the adjoining towns, wherever the singing-schools 
were using the " Manhattan Collection," they had fallen 
upon this tune and were singing it just as we were. 

Before our singing school closed I left home ,to pur- 
sue my academic, collegiate, and theological studies, and 
for a few years following, in connection with my resi- 
dence at different places, and my travels in different 
Northern States, I again and again had opportunities 
of observing that in cities as well as in the country, 
in centers of intelligence and refinement as well as at 
my rural home, there was something in "Ortonville" 
calculated to interest nearly every class of mind, and 
make it, as soon as it was known in any place, a popular 
favorite. 

With these elements, and our national habit of never 
sparing our favorites, but pressing them into service for 
the time, ad nauseam, those who heard it once in any 
place were sure to hear it, to say the least, until they 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 283 

"had heard enough of it," and then it was consigned to 
comparative neglect. 

For a long time I had heard it but rarely ; the feel- 
ing of dislike at its frequent repetition had worn off, 
and it again possessed not only its original interest, but 
was thick clustering with pleasant memories of home, 
and many of the happiest scenes of my life. I was at 
length in the interior of a distant Southern State, an in- 
valid, alone, and doubtful of the future. Sabbath came, 
and with kind, new-found friends, I rode through the 
pines over a sandy road to a plain, unpainted church, 
standing in the midst of a piny wood, and bearing the 
name " Mount Zion." In the rear of this building, com- 
fortably seated and sheltered, a large congregation of 
slaves was assembled, who were listening to the in- 
structions of an earnest and faithful minister of the 
gospel. He had just finished reading a hymn as I 
reached the place, and an old negro slave rose to lead 
the singing. The lines were given out one by one, 
and as every voice in that large company seemed to 
join in the song, never did " Ortonville " sound more 
sweetly than as it then broke unexpectedly upon my 
ear. "With their rich, melodious voices, and the en- 
thusiasm peculiar to the African, they seemed to pour 
out all their souls, and, as they sang through the hymn, 
and those familiar sounds resounded through the grove, 
the effect upon my feelings can be more easily imag- 
ined than described. 



284 ^^V" THE BRUSH. 

During my stay in this neighborhood, a slave died 
upon one of the plantations, and I was told that I 
would have an opportunity of witnessing one of their 
favorite funerals. In those portions of the South 
where the plantations were largest, and the slaves the 
most numerous, they were very fond of burying their 
dead at night, and as near midnight as possible. In 
case of a funeral, they assembled in large numbers 
from adjoining plantations, provided with pine-knots, 
and pieces of fat pine called light-wood, which when 
ignited made a blaze compared with which our city 
torch-light processions are most sorry affairs. When 
all was in readiness, they lighted these torches, formed 
into a procession, and marched slowly to the distant 
grave, singing the most solemn music. Sometimes they 
sang hymns they had committed to memory, but often- 
er those more tender and plaintive, composed by them- 
selves, that have since been introduced to the people 
of the North, and of Europe, as plantation melodies. 
I have never yet seen any statement of the manner in 
which these melodies, that have moved and melted 
the hearts of millions on both sides of the Atlantic, 
were composed. I have been famihar with the secret 
of their birth and power since my first acquaintance 
with, and religious labors among, the slaves in 1843. 
It is preeminently true of these plantation melodies 
that they were "born, not made." I have been pres- 
ent at the birth of a great many of them — many that 




An old-time midnigtit slave funeral. 



TTNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 285 

I think more tender and pathetic than those that have 
been given to the world by the various jubilee-singers. 
In their religious gatherings the best singer among 
them was always the leader of the meeting. They 
usually commenced their services by singing some 
hymn that they had committed to memory ; but the 
leader always gave out this hymn, one line at a time, 
in a sing-song tone, much Hke a chant, and then the 
audience sang the line he had given out, and so went 
through the hymn. As the meeting progressed, and 
their feelings became deeper and deeper, and the 
excitement rose higher and higher, they at length 
reached a state of tender or rapturous feeling to which 
no hymn with which they were familiar gave expres- 
sion. At this point the leader sang from his heart, 
or, as musicians say, improvised, both the words and 
music of a single line. The audience then sang that 
line with him, as they had sung all the preceding 
hymns. He then improvised another line, and another, 
and they sang each one after him, until he had im- 
provised one of those plantation melodies, which, as 
they gave expression to the glowing hearts of those 
who first sang them, so, when they have been repeated, 
they have touched the universal heart. When thus 
"born," no such words or music were ever forgotten 
by the leader. It was sung over and over again at 
succeeding meetings, until some other melody was in 
like manner improvised, to meet another and perhaps 



286 IN THE BRUSH. 

a liigher state of religious enthusiasm. In my visits 
to hundreds of different plantations and congregations, 
I have heard a great variety of these plantation melo- 
dies. Many of them, that were inexpressibly tender 
and beautiful, were never heard beyond the immedi- 
ate neighborhood in which they were first sung, and 
will never be reproduced, unless it be among the songs 
of the redeemed in heaven. 

But to return to this midnight funeral. The ap- 
pearance of such a procession, winding through the 
fields and woods, as revealed by their flaming torches, 
marching slowly to the sound of their wild music, was 
weird and imposing in the highest degree. This pro- 
cession was to pass immediately by our door, but, in 
order to get a fuller view, a small company of us went 
out a short distance to meet them. We saw them and 
heard their music in the distance, as they came down 
a gentle descent, crossed over a small stream, and then 
marched on some time in silence. As they came near 
where we stood, we heard their leader announce in the 
sing-song, chanting style I have already described, the 
words — 

"When I can read my title clear;" 

and that long procession, with their flaming fat-pine 
torches, marched by ns with slow and solemn tread, 
singing that beautiful hymn to the tune of "Orton- 
ville." We followed to the place of burial, listened 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG, 287 

to their songs and addresses at the grave, and wit- 
nessed all the ceremonies to the close. From first to 
last the scene was impressive beyond description. 

A few days after this, as I was taking a lonely 
horseback-ride to an adjoining parish, I heard the ne- 
groes singing in a field that I could not see, lying 
behind a wood that skirted the road. I stopped my 
horse for a moment to listen to their music. I could 
hear no words, but at once distinguished '' Ortonville." 
Soon after I inquired of my host how long these peo- 
ple had been singing this tune, and where they had 
learned it; and was told that the minister I had seen 
upon the Sabbath, while on a visit to his relatives in 
the State of Georgia the fall before, had heard it sung 
at the meeting of the Synod, and was so much pleased 
with it that he procured a copy, and in that manner 
it had been introduced to this place and the places ad- 
jacent. At one of those places I was told that they 
were so much pleased with it that they had sung it 
over and over one Sabbath-day during the entire in- 
termission. 

Time passed on, and in my invalid wanderings I 
was within the tropics, sailing in the track of Colum- 
bus, along the north shore of Hayti. Entering those 
waters, so often tinged with human blood, that divide 
tliis island from the famed Tortugas, as if in harmony 
with the dark memories that crowded upon the mind, 
black clouds began to darken the heavens, the thunders 



288 I^ THE BRU8E. 

rolled, tlie lightnings gleamed with terrific fury, and 
amid the most sublime tumult of the elements we were 
carried along until our little craft dropped anchor in 
the bay of Port de Paix. The storm and darkness 
were such that I could not go ashore, and I was that 
night rocked to sleep on waters where many a pirate- 
ship, with bloody deck, had ridden securely at anchor, 
and prepared to set forth again on new missions of 
pillage and death. This harbor was the chief rendez- 
vous, the refuge from danger, and retreat from toil, of 
the buccaneers that for years infested these seas, and 
whose piratical plunderings for so long a time made 
their names a terror to all within their reach. How- 
ever, not being particularly superstitious, I slept sound- 
ly for the uiglit. 

In the morning I left our little vessel and received 
— what is ever so grateful to a wanderer on a foreign 
shore, and especially to one who has any sympathy 
w4th the command, " Go teach all nations " — a welcome 
to the residence of a countryman, to a missionary's 
humble home. Ay, noble men and women are they, 
who, forgetful of themselves, and alone for the honor 
of the Master that they serve, leaving the comforts 
and amenities of a Christian civilization, toil on through 
life amid manifold discouragements, endeavoring to in- 
struct and elevate the degraded, and, above all else, 
anxious to 

" Allure to brighter worlds acd lead the way." 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. , 289 

And yet, like those whose own minds are so degraded 
and debauched that they can not conceive of purity 
and virtue in any character, there are those who are 
so utterly ignorant and unconscious of the lofty sen- 
timents that animate these self-sacrificing missionaries, 
that they are ever finding, in base, unworthy, and ig- 
noble objects, the grand motive of their life-work. 
Such may well ponder the life of unj)aralleled Chris- 
tian heroism of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, of 
which the undoubted and sufficient motive was a con- 
straining love! 

Evening darkened around the dwelling of the mis- 
sionary, and a little group of natives assembled for 
religious worship. I sat in that little room and listened 
to the words of instruction, praise, and prayer, with 
indescribably strange emotions, for all was in a language 
that I did not understand. As the services proceeded, a 
hymn? was read by the missionary with peculiar interest 
and emotion, and the dark group sang in the familiar 
strains of " Ortonville " : 

" Beni soit bien qui chaque jour 
Nous corable de ses biens, 
Et dont s'inconvenable amour 
A romptu nos liens." 

"What a change — what a change! The haunts of 
bloody pirates giving place to the home of the mission- 
ary of the cross; the wild, agonized shrieks of their 



290 . IN' TEE BRUSH. 

murdered victims succeeded by the sweet and peaceful 
notes of '' Ortonville !" And so this tune has often been 
sung where sounds of direst woe and wretchedness had 
long been heard, and so it doubtless will be, and onward 
to the millennium. 

As I once returned from a small church on the 
banks of the Savannah Kiver, where it had been sung, 
the friend whose hospitality I was enjoying remarked : 

"My brother-in-law, a missionary, told me he first 
heard that tune, and since had often sung it, on Mount 
Zion, in Jerusalem, and it sounded most sweetly there." 

And thus it has been sung in many a land and clime 
by that heroic missionary band which now encircles the 
globe with celestial light. 

But this narrative would swell to a volume were I 
to relate in detail all the sweet, sacred, and delightful 
memories associated with " Ortonville." In all my long 
invalid wanderings, and in all the years in which I- have 
been permitted to labor actively in the Master's service, 
both " in the Brush " and elsewhere, it has often been 
my happy lot to recognize and greet in the most varied 
and striking circumstances the favorite I first learned 
to love in that country singing-school. Its gentle, sooth- 
ing notes have broken sweetly upon my ear in crowded 
city churches ; in quiet meetings for prayer ; in large, un- 
painted, barn-like edifices erected for Christian sanctua- 
ries ; in rude log churches crowded with devout wor- 
shipers ; in basket-meetings, camp-meetings, and in all 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 291 

varieties of gatherings for tlie worship of Ahiiighty God. 
Often, very often, it has inspired my devotions as I have 
mingled, for the first time, with households gathered 
for family worship. With adoring recognition of the 
Fatherhood of God, and with loving recognition of the 
brotherhood of man, it has been my happy, happy lot 
thus to worship with uncounted hundreds of families 
— among them the most cultivated and refined, and the 
most ignorant, neglected, and lowly of God's poor. In 
very long horseback-journeys, for days, weeks, and 
months together, as I have ridden over bleak, desolate 
" barrens," through dense, dark forests, along deep, nar- 
row ravines and valleys, and up and over rough and rug- 
ged mountains, nearly every night has found me under 
a different roof, enjoying the rough or refined hospitality 
of a new-found family. As they have invited me to 
" take the books " (the Bible and hymn-book) and lead 
the devotions of the family, often in the most remote 
and lowly cabins, I have been surprised and delighted, as 
I was in the tropics, with the familiar notes of " Orton- 
ville." 

As I write these lines my memory is far more busy 
than my pen. I think of my wanderings in many dif- 
ferent States, and of the cabins in which I have briefly 
rehearsed the old, old story, and by kind words of en- 
treaty, and in reverent words of prayer, attempted to 
" allure to brighter worlds, and lead the way." I have 
knelt in prayer in many a home along the banks of the 



292 IN^ THE BRUSH. 

Rappahannock, the James, the Cape Fear, the Santee, 
the Savannah, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Ohio, 
the Mississippi, the Missouri, the San Joaquin, the Sac- 
ramento, and many other rivers. So I have knelt and 
prayed in homes along the shores of the stormy Atlan- 
tic and the peaceful Pacific. Yery often the inmates, 
at first startled, and then delighted, by the strangeness 
of my visit, have told me that my voice was the first 
ever lifted in prayer beneath their roofs. Though in 
multitudes of such homes no member of the family had 
ever learned a single letter of the alphabet of their 
mother-tongue, and all were barefooted, and more desti- 
tute and ignorant than the most of my readers will 
be able to conceive, they have received me in their 
homes with a hospitality so hearty and cordial, and have 
thanked me, and bidden me come again, with such 
warm words and such abounding tears, that my own 
have welled and flowed responsive to theirs ; and as I 
have spoken my farewell words, so often final, and rid- 
den away with new impressions of the power of the 
Saviour's name and love to touch and melt the rudest 
minds, my happy heart has found full expression in 
the tender notes and sweet words of my favorite tune 
and hymn ; 

" Majestic sweetness sits enthroned 
Upon the Saviour's brow ; 
His head with radiant glories crowned, 
His lips with grace o'erflow. 



UNIVERSAL POWER OF SACRED SONG. 293 

" No mortal can with him compare, 
Among the sons of men; 
Fairer is he than all the fair 
Who fill the heavenly train. 

" He saw me plunged in deep distress, 
And flew to my relief; 
For me he bore the shameful cross, 
And carried all my grief. 

" Since from his bounty I receive 
Such proofs of love divine, 
Had I a thousand hearts to give, 
Lord, they should all be thine." 

Note. — Returning from one of my visits to Hayti, more than twenty- 
five years ago, I communicated to Professor Hastings, at his old home in 
Amity Street, New York, several of the facts related in this chapter. He 
then gave me the history of the tune as follows : 

" I was anxious to write just as simple a tune as possible, to be sung 
by children. I sat at my instrument, and played, until this tune was com- 
pletely formed in my mind. 

" Not long after, a boy came from the printer with a note, saying he need- 
ed another tune to fill out a page or form. I sat down at my instrument, 
played it again, thought it would do, wrote it out, and sent it to the office, 
little dreaming that I should hear from it, as I have, from almost every part 
of the world." 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 

I DO not j)ropose to give anything like a full account 
or even a summary of tlie work accomplished in my 
sj)ecial mission by all these long rides and years of 
earnest and cheerful labor in the Brush. That has not 
been my object. It has been rather to describe the 
manner of performing these labors, the incidents con- 
nected with them, and to portray the character, man- 
ners, customs, and peculiarities of the people who re- 
ceived me so cordially, and with whom I mingled so 
freely in their rude homes. But I should fail to give 
a full and true idea of their social and moral condi- 
tion, especially as indicated by their want of education, 
and their destitution of Bibles, if I did not give some 
of the results of these labors. I have described the 
manner in which I explored different counties, organ- 
ized or reorganized Bible societies, and secured the 
appointment of distributors to canvass them. 

One of these men, Mr. Guier, a well-known citizen 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED m THE SOUTHWEST. 295 

of the county, visited five hundred and fifty-eight 
families, of whom one hundred and sixty — more than 
one fourth — were destitute of the Bible. They con- 
tained four hundred and thirty-five persons. In sixty- 
four of them either the husband or wife, or both (ac- 
cording to their own statements), were members of 
some Protestant church. Sixty-two Bibles and ninety 
Testaments were sold, amounting to one hundred and 
fourteen dollars and eighty-five cents; and thirty-three 
Bibles and six Testaments were given away, amount- 
ing to ten dollars and forty cents. Mr. Guier com- 
municated to me the following facts in connection with 
his labors: 

"I visited a man at his house, and asked him if 
he had a Bible. He said no. I told him he ought 
to have one. He said he was not able to buy. I 
told him that I could sell so cheap that any man 
could buy. He said he had not paid for his land yet, 
and he had no time to read. I then took up my 
saddle-bags to go, and offered him a Bible as a gift. 
He said : ' Stop, sir ; I will pay you for it. I would 
not have my neighbor to know that you gave me a 
Bible.' 

"I found a poor widow at work in her garden, 
who told me she had no Bible, and no money to buy 
one with. She was a church-member, and very anx- 
ious to have a Bible, but she was not willing to re- 
ceive one as a gift. She said she had a kind neigh- 



296 IN' THE BRUSH. 

bor, who would always lend lier money when he had 
it ; but her little son was some distance from home, 
at a blacksmith-shop, and she could not send for the 
money. As she was so anxious to get a Bible, I found 
her son, and went with him to see the neighbor, who 
loaned her one dollar and twenty-five cents to get the 
Bible she wanted. May God bless it to her! 

" I was one day taken so sick that I had to stop by 
the side of the road a half-hour or more. I then rode 
on to a cabin, and told the lady I was very unwell, 
and asked if she could let me have a bed to lie upon. 
She seemed alarmed, and said she would have no ob- 
jection if her husband was at home. I told her I was 
very ill and could not ride, and that I was distribut- 
ing Bibles. She at once told me to get down and 
come in, and she nursed me with the greatest care 
and attention until her husband came. On his arrival 
I explained to him why I was there ; and he said they 
would take the best care of me they could, which they 
did until the next morning. They told me they had 
no Bible and no money. I offered to pay them for 
keeping me, but they would receive no pay. I then 
gave them a Bible, which they received very thank- 
fully. The lady was a church-member, and I have 
heard that her husband has since been converted and 
united with the church. 

"I asked a man in a field if he had a Bible. He 
said he did not know, but his wife could tell. I went 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED m THE SOUTHWEST. 297 

to the house, and she told me they had no Bible, but 
she was verj anxious to get one. Her husband came 
in, and I told him his wife had no Bible, and he 
ought to get her one. He said he would like to have 
a Bible, as the leaves would make good wadding for 
his gun; and made a good many other remarks of the 
same nature in regard to the Bible. His wife sat and 
wept all the time, and, as I thought it useless to talk 
with him longer, I prepared to leave, and she handed 
me the Bible she had been looking at. I told her to 
keep it. She said she could not — she had no money. 
I told her that made no difference; the Bible Society 
would give it to her. She was greatly rejoiced at re- 
ceiving the unexpected gift. 

^'I found an old sailor who was plowing for a 
neighbor to get corn for his family, who told me he 
had no Bible. lie had been a member of the church 
about two years, and seemed to be very religious. He 
was very glad to see my Bibles, but said he could not 
buy one. He had no money, lived on rented land, 
and could with difficulty support his family. I told 
him that, if he was too poor to buy, he was not too 
poor to read, and that the . Bible Society enabled me 
to give him a Bible. He received it with aston- 
ishment and joy, and praised God aloud that 
he had lived to see the day when the poor were 
supplied with the Bible without money and without 
price. I left him in the field, shouting aloud his 



298 IN THE BRUSH. 

praises to God that he now had the blessed Bible to 
read. 

" I saw a man about sixty years old, who had 
raised a large family and was now living with his 
third wife, standing by his field and looking at a lot 
of fine colts. I asked him if he had a Bible, He 
said, No ; he had no use for a Bible. I then asked 
him if he had ever had a Bible in his family. He 
said, No ; he had no use for a Bible. After doing my 
best to sell him a Bible, I told him the Bible Society 
made it my duty to offer him one as a gift. But he 
refused to receive it. I was told by one of his neigh- 
bors that he did not think he had been at church for 
years. 

" The country I have visited is exceedingly rough 
and broken. It has been very hard work to climb all 
the hills and knobs, and hunt up all the people scat- 
tered over them, and up and down the valleys. But 
I have endeavored to explore it faithfully, and leave 
no family unvisited, and without the offer of a Bible. 
I have been in a good many families and neighbor- 
hoods that had never before been visited by a Bible 
distributor. I was born in this county, and when so- 
licited to undertake this work I thought it was entire- 
ly unnecessary. I had no idea that twenty families 
could be found in the county without a Bible. And 
now, before the work is half completed, the exploration 
reveals such facts as these." 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN TEE SOUTHWEST. ^^^ 

In the thorough exploration and supply of another 
county, Father J. G. Ivasey, the venerable Bible dis- 
tributor, visited six hundred and fifty-five families, of 
whom one hundred and twenty-seven — nearly one fifth 
— were destitute of the Bible. Eight of the families 
supplied were entirely without education ; and six fami- 
lies refused to receive the Bible as a gift. He sold in 
the county one hundred and forty-one Bibles and Testa- 
ments, amounting to sixty-three dollars and ninety-one 
cents ; and gave away eighty-one Bibles and Testaments, 
amounting to twenty dollars and seventy-five cents. 
Father Kasey's labors were eminently of a missionary 
character. He sat down with the people at their fire- 
sides, exhorted Christians to greater fidelity and zeal 
in their Master's service, kindly warned and urged sin- 
ners to flee to Christ for salvation, and then, bowing 
with them in prayer, humbly and earnestly besought 
God's blessing upon them. "VYhat enterprise is more 
Christian, or what work more blessed, than the distribu- 
tion of the "Word of God, accompanied with sacli labors ? 
He said : 

" I have cause to rejoice for the success I have met 
with in supplying the people with the Holy Bible, 
and imparting religious instruction. I have been able 
to have religious conversation and prayer wdth almost 
every family I have visited, and from all I could learn 
I was induced to believe that it made a good impres- 
sion on the most of them. I found a comfortable 



300 I^ THE BRUSH. 

home one night with a kind old brother, of the Epis- 
copal Church. After supper we sat in the parlor, and 
he went on to speak of his efforts to train up his chil- 
dren in the fear of the Lord ; but none of them were 
yet Christians. He had become discouraged, and seemed 
almost to give them up. I advised him to continue 
his prayer and efforts, believing that God would bring 
them in — if not in his day, when he was gone. Some 
of his children were present, and my conversation and 
prayer seemed to make a good impression upon the 
family. Some time afterward several of his children 
were converted and united with the church. 

" In my travels I called at a house where they had 
no Bible or Testament, but gladly received one as a 
gift. After conversation and prayer, I exhorted the 
woman to seek the Lord. She wept very bitterly as 
I addressed her, and said she intended to do so. She 
was as deeply affected as any person I ever saw, and 
as I bade her good-by she held me by the hand sev- 
eral minutes, refusing to let me go. She said she had 
not been in the habit of attending church, but she 
would do so from that time. I pointed her to the 
Lamb of God, and she promised to seek religion with 
all her heart. She said I must attend a meeting that 
had been appointed to be held in the neighborhood. 
I did so, and found her happy in the love of God, and 
she has since united with the Church of Christ. I 
afterward saw her husband, who was a very wicked 



WOEK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 301 

man. He seemed deeply affected, and promised to 
seek religion ; and I trust he, too, may be converted. 

"I called upon another family, where the man had 
previously had a Bible, but had burned it. Afterward 
he became convicted, and was anxious for another. 
I sold him a Bible, exhorted him to become a Chris- 
tian, and trust he will be a better man. 

^'I found another man who had lived to a good 
old age, and had twenty children now living, three 
having gone to the eternal world. The family was 
destitute of any portion of the Bible. I gave him the 
Word of God, exhorted him to seek the Lord, prayed 
with him, hoping that the good Lord would save him 
and his large family, as they were all irreligious. He 
received my visit thankfully. 

" I rode up to a very poor cabin, in a hollow, and 
found a woman j)lowing with one horse. Several lit- 
tle children, very ragged, were playing near her. I 
asked her if she had a Bible. She said she had not — 
she was very poor ; her husband was dead, and she 
had several children, none of whom were large enough 
to help her, and she was trying to raise something for 
them to eat. I asked her if she did not want a Bible. 
She said, ' Oh, yes, very much, but I am too poor to 
buy one.' I told her it was my business to seek out 
the poor and the destitute, and supply them with the 
Bible. I then gave her one, which she received with 
a great deal of thankfulness. I told her the Lord had 



302 IN' THE BRUSH. 

promised to be a God to the widow and the fatherless, 
and exhorted her to put her trust in him. As I rode 
away, she followed me with her thanks, and her prayers 
that the Lord would bless me. 

" There were many other interesting circumstances, 
that made a lasting impression upon my mind. The 
good accomplished by the Lord, through his humble 
servant, by this distribution of the Word of God, w^ill 
not be known in this world. My heart is in this work, 
for I know I am engaged in a good work." 

Mr. Lutes was commissioned to undertake the re- 
exploration and supply of a county where I had je- 
organized a society that had been inactive for many 
years. During the first three months of his labor he 
visited six hundred and thirty-three families, of whom 
one hundred and twenty-eight — more than one fifth — 
were destitute of the Bible. He sold two hundred 
and twenty-eight Bibles and Testaments, amounting to 
one hundred and seventeen dollars and six cents, and 
gave away forty-five, amounting to ten dollars and for- 
ty-nine cents. In speaking of his great amazement 
at finding so many faiTxilies destitute of the Bible, he 
said : 

"Experience has taught me that a poor and very 
incorrect estimate will be made in regard to this matter 
while we remain at home — while we look upon our 
Bibles and say : ' How cheap such books are ! Surely 
everybody must have them.' I have found, to my 




I gave her a Bible, and. as I rode away she followed me -with, 
her thanks and her prayers. 



WOUK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 303 

great surprise, fifteen families in wliicli either the hus- 
band or wife, or both, were members of some Protes- 
tant church, and had no Bible. I visited three desti- 
tute families in succession : the first, a poor widow ; 
the second, husband and wife, both members of the 
church; the third wanted spiritual-rapping loolcs^ but 
was finally persuaded to buy a Bible. I gave a poor 
man a Bible, and next Sabbath he and his wife were 
both at church, a very uncommon sight. I visited a 
school-teacher, a liberally educated Irishman, but very 
poor. He said he had neither Bible nor Testament, 
and that he should like a large Testament in his fam- 
ily. He cheerfully paid me for one. I visited a poor 
widow, a church-member, who had been a housekeeper 
many years, had children married and removed to a 
distant State ; but she had no Bible. Poor creature ! I 
gave her one, and she wished me to fill out the family 
record for her ; but she had neglected the matter so long 
that she had lost all trace of the date of births, mar- 
riages, and deaths. In the next family the husband 
seemed indifferent about the book, but the wife want- 
ed it, which I readily discovered. ' I'm poor,' said 
he; and his wife said, 'He was unable to work dur- 
ing the summer.' ' I have Bibles for thirty cents.' 
' Well, I haven't money enough to pay for one.' ' You 
can have it at your own price.' ' I don't like to take 
a book that way.' ' It makes no difference ; I am au- 
thorized to make this offer to you: you can have it 



304 IN THE BRUSH. 

for ten or fifteen cents.' ' Certainly ; I'd give ten cents 
for a Bible any time.' This saved liis pride. He lias 
been greatly pleased with his Bible, and whenever I 
pass his house he comes out and asks me questions 
relative to my success, and gives me directions how to 
pass over the country, as if he were one of the 'Ex- 
ecutive Committee.' I sold a Bible to an Irish toll- 
gate-keeper. I had been on the pike about a mile, 
and asked him the toll. 'Nothing, sir; are you a doc- 
tor?' 'No, sir, I am a bookseller. Do you wish to 
buy?' 'I reckon not; I work six days on the road, 
and on Sundays I read a newspaper.' 'Have you a 
Bible?' 'No, sir.' 'Wouldn't you like to have one?' 
' I believe I would, but I have no money.' ' It makes 
no difference ; if you have no Bible and want one, 
I'll leave it.' ' I don't like to take it in that way.' 
' No difference ; if you'll read it carefully, we shall be 
well paid.' 'Why,' said he, when I told him the 
j)rice was twenty-five cents, ' in Ireland the bind- 
ing would be more than that ; and I'll pay you the 
first time you pass this gate.' I went down a creek 
nearly a mile to see a family, and came back. When 
some three hundred yards from the toll-gate, I saw 
the keeper sitting upon the ground, leaning against 
the house, perfectly absorbed in reading his Bible. He 
has since paid me for it, and he and his wife are 
greatly pleased with it. Staid all night with a poor 
family; wife a church-member, and no Bible; husband 



WORK AGGOMPLISHED IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 305 

careless, but wife anxious to liave one. In the morn- 
ing I took a thirty -cent Bible from my saddle-bags 
and commenced filling out the family record. Said 
he : ^ I don't want you to give me that book. I don't 
charge you for staying all night.' ' I find you desti- 
tute, and wish you to have a Bible.' He stood for 
some time, then went to a drawer, and, finding a 
quarter, gave it to me, saying it was all he had, and 
kindly invited me to call again. 

"One day I visited twenty-one families, eleven of 
whom were destitute of the Bible. Another day I vis- 
ited twenty families, and found ten destitute of the 
Bible. During the spring I left a box of books at the 
house of a magistrate, as a depositary, while I visited 
the neighborhood. Said he, ^Do you think you will 
find anybody here without a Bible ? ' 'I don't know, 
sir.' ' Some two years since,' said he, ' I looked around 
and could not find but one man destitute, and him I 
supplied.' 

" I commenced my labors, and found his partner in 
a mill destitute ; then one of his hands, having a fam- 
ily ; then an old neighbor, who was a church-member. 
The squire gave it up, and said it was necessary to 
have colporteurs. 

" In some of these destitute neighborhoods they told 
me that no person had ever visited them before with 
Bibles and Testaments. They occupied a very broken 
country ; their houses were cabins scattered Over the 



306 IN TEE BRUSH. 

hills and u^ narrow valleys, with very small patches 
of ground fenced in around them, generally with no 
bars, and always with no gates. I traveled among 
them, following the rocky beds of the streams, and 
frequently led my horse up and down the steep hills, 
and j)ulled down fences, till at night I was so tired 
I could scarcely walk. I have had many discourage- 
ments, many taunts and sneers to bear from those who 
had not the love of God shed abroad in their hearts ; 
but then I have had the smiles, the assistance, and the 
warm cooj^eration of Christians to hold up my feeble 
hands, and cheer up my desponding heart. I have 
found such families with six, eight, and ten Bibles in 
a single house; I have found many who have thrown 
open their doors and bid me welcome to the hospital- 
ity of their homes, who, by their kind words and their 
questions respecting my work, caused me to forget 
the sneers and taunts of others, and made me adore 
the Almighty for the success with wdiicli he crowned 
the labors of his servants employed in his vineyard. 
May the Lord inspire the minds of Christians with 
greater zeal for the dissemination of his Word ! " 

In another county Mr. Temple visited seven hun- 
dred and three families, of whom eighty-three were 
destitute of the Bible. His sales of Bibles and Testa- 
ments amounted to ninety dollars and forty cents, and 
his donations to the destitute to forty-three dollars 
and twenty-five cents. The exploration of the county 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 307 

revealed a much greater amount of poverty and des- 
titution of the Word of God than he had expected to 
find. The following are some of the incidents con- 
nected with his labors: 

"A poor widow with five children had no Bible, 
but she had a small Testament, which she got her 
children to read to her, as it was difficult for her to 
read such small print. She had long been anxious to 
get a Bible, and was delighted when I told her I had 
Bibles for sale, but she feared she had not money 
enough to get one. She w^as greatly pleased with the 
large Testament and Psalms, as she could read the 
print. She gathered together all the money she and 
her children had, and made up twenty-five cents, for 
w^hich I gave her the Testament and Psalms. In an- 
other neighborhood I was told by a good many per- 
sons of a poor widow that had no Bible, who was very 
anxious to get one. Her Bible had been wet and ru- 
ined in moving from E'orth Carolina, and she had 
been several years without one. She had been saving 
money from the sale of eggs and chickens to get 
enough to buy a Bible. When I reached the place, I 
found a poor cabin in an old field, and everything in- 
dicating great poverty. A chair was standing in the 
door, which was open, but there was no one at home. 
I wrote in a Bible, ^Presented by the Bible Society,' 
and left it in the chair, and rode on. 

"I heard of one old man who had nine grown 



308 IN TEE BE USE, 

cliildren, and had never had a Bible or Testament in 
his family. I was told that he was a skeptic and very 
profane, and that I had better not visit him, as he 
w^ould treat me roughly. I found him plowing, and 
talked with him a long time about farming, and at 
length about our dependence ujDon God for crops, and 
finally told him I was selling Bibles. He invited me 
to dine wdth him, and I went to his house and sold 
him a family Bible, and also sold Bibles to a married 
son and daughter. The old man did not use a pro- 
fane word during my visit, and I was never treated 
better by any man. He thanked me for my visit, and 
begged me to call on him whenever I passed that way. 
" I visited a house and found no one at home. As 
the family was evidently very poor, and I had learned 
that they had no Bible, I wrote on one, 'Presented 
by the Bible Society,' and left it between the logs, 
near the door, where they would be sure to find it 
when they came home. I rode on about two miles, 
and called at another house. As soon as I showed my 
Bibles, one of the women said she was sorry she was 
not at home, as she had no Bible and had long been 
anxious to get one. She thought she had money 
enough to get a thirty -cent Bible, and if I would go 
back with her she would buy one if she could. I 
then told her I had left a Bible for her, and where 
she would find it, and she thanked me very warmly 
for the gift. 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 309 

"I visited another family that had no Bible, and 
sold them one. As the children were looking at my 
books, I heard a little girl, about ten years old, say 
that she wished she had money enough to buy one of 
these Bibles; that her mother, when she talked with 
her before she died, had told her she must get a Bible 
as soon as she could, and read it, and be a good girl, 
and meet her in heaven. I inquired her history, and 
learned that she was an orphan. I then gave her a 
Bible, and she commenced reading it. Dinner was 
soon ready, but she could not be induced to stop 
reading long enough to eat, and when I left the 
house she was still reading her new Bible." 

Father Eggen, a veteran Bible distributor, said : 
" One man told me he had a neighbor who was very 
poor, who had no Bible, and I gave him one to send 
to him. I afterward called on this family, not know- 
ing it was the same. The house was without floor or 
loft, and was inclosed by nailing rough boards upon 
posts that were driven into the ground. It had a 
stick-and-mud chimney on the outside, and was with- 
out floor of any kind, the family living on the ground. 
The man followed making split-bottomed chairs, and 
was very poor indeed, but he insisted upon paying 
for the Bible that had been sent to him, and did so. 

" In one neighborhood where there was a small 
supply of Bibles and Testaments at a store, the man 
who had them, a professing Christian, insisted that 



310 IN THE BRUSH. 

there was no necessity for employing a distributor to 
go around ; said that, if people wanted Bibles, they 
could easily come to the store and get them. I, how- 
ever, went through this neighborhood, and found in 
one day fifteen families without a Bible. Some of 
them were very large families, and had been destitute 
for many years." 

It is now (August 1, 1881) more than twenty-three 
years since I resigned my commission as an agent of the 
American Bible Society. During the last week I have 
visited the Bible House, examined their well-preserved 
files of letters, and read the correspondence between 
Secretary McNeill and myself during the last months 
of my connection with the Society. Some extracts from 
these letters will appropriately close this brief review of 
" work accomplished in the Southwest." 



Louisville, Kentucky, April 2, 1858. 
Eev. James H. McNeill, Secretary of the American Bible Society^ 
New Yorh. 
My dear Brother : Herewith you have ray annual report. . . . 
My duties the last year, as well as all the other years of my 
agency, have involved a great deal of labor and self-denial. The 
field assigned to my supervision is very large, and, in order to ac- 
complish thoroughly the great work of " home supply," it has been 
necessary for me to visit every county on horseback. I have thus 
ridden many thousands of miles, exposed to all the extremes of heat 
and cold, traveling over the roughest of roads, fording rivers, pene- 
trating the wildest regions, eating the coarsest food, and sleeping in 
the worst of beds. But I have everywhere received a cordial wel- 
come, and I wish here to record my testimony that such service in 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN TEE SOUTHWEST. 311 

such a cause is a blessed service. I weep tears of gratitude that 
God has permitted me thus to labor for the dissemination of his 
Word. And now that his Spirit is being poured out so copiously all 
over our land,* I rejoice exceedingly that I have been permitted to 
cooperate with others in sowing so much "good seed" against these 
times of refreshing from on high. I pray that all the seed thus 
sown may bear abundant fruit.- 

Yours cordially, 

H. ^Y. PlEESOX. 



Louisville, Kentucky, May 28, 1858. 
Eev. James H. McNeill, Secretary of the American Bible Society. 

My dear Brother : I reached the city on my return from the 
western part of the State on Wednesday morning, after an absence 
of more than six weeks. The tour was one of the most successful 
and gratifying I have ever made. I find here letters and papers that 
have been accumulating during ray absence, and have been exceed- 
ingly busy in posting myself up, and getting square with the world. 
All your anniversary excitements have come off while I was in the 
Brush, and I have been trying to find out where you have left the 
world. I have read the " Christian Intelligencer's " full report of 
the meeting of the American Tract Society. I should have been de- 
lighted to be an eye-witness of the fight, t On ray last tour I learned 

that, of nine hundred and twenty-five families visited in G 

County, one hundred and sixty had no part of the Word of God in 
their houses — not a leaf or a letter ! Oh, it is a burning shame to 
American Christianity, and especially to the American Bible Society, 
that such facts as these can be reported in the forty-third year of its 
history ! But I am speaking warmly, nevertheless truly. 

I leave the city to-day, and expect to spend the Sabbath at 
Paducah, Kentucky, and go on to Princeton early in the week. I 
have been unanimously elected President and Professor of Mental 
and Moral Philosophy in Cumberland College, at Princeton, Ken- 
tucky, and the terms are so very liberal, and the people are so very 
earnest to have me accept the appointment, that I am going down 

* The great revival that followed the financial revulsion of 1857. 
I On the slavery question. 



312 IN THE BRUSH. 

to see them and give them my answer. The probabilities are, that 
I shall accept, and send you my resignation, to take effect as soon as 
I can close up the work in several counties where it is nearly com- 
pleted. I will thank you not to make this matter public until I re- 
sign formally. I write now in order to have you take steps in re- 
gard to my successor. I feel a good deal of solicitude to have one 
appointed who will carry on the work as I have been prosecuting it. 
I think there will be a general solicitude on the subject over the 
field. I have, therefore, kept this college matter a secret here, in 
order than you might have more time for considering tlie subject 
before my resignation is known to the public. I will cheerfully render 
any advice or aid in my power in the matter. 

Yours ut semper^ H. W. Pierson, 

Agent of the American Bible Society. 

Bible House, Astor Place, New York, Jane 28, 1858. 
Rev. H. W. PiEKsoN. 

My dear Brother: . . . But what shall I say of the announce- 
ment of your purpose to leave this good work? Only that I regret 
it most deeply. I stated to the Agency Committee your intention 
and its reasons. Of course, they could not oppose your wishes, and 
directed me to inquire for your successor. I am anxious to find a 
man who will carry on the work as you have been doing. Can you 
name any one? Do so if you know the man. But I trust you have 
ere this reconsidered the matter, and will withhold your resignation. 
In my opinion, your present position is one of far more usefulness 
than the presidency of Cumberland College, if that were the great- 
est college in the land. Let me hear from you soon. 

Cordially yours, James H. McNeill, 

Corresponding Secretary of the American BiUe Society. 

LomsviLLE, Kentucky, July 9, 1858. 
Rev. James II. McNeill, Secretary of the American Bible Society, 
New York. 
My dear Brother : Since my last report I have completed my 
annual exploration of the seven counties lying west of the Tennes- 
see River, and known as "Jackson's Purchase" — from the fact that 
General Jackson was the agent of the United States Government in 



WOEK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 313 

buying it from the Indians. I have been greatly delighted at what 
I have learned, in all these counties, of the progress that has been 
made in the good work of Bible distribution during the past year. 
A little more than a year ago I organized the Paducah and Vicin- 
ity Bible Society, including McCracken, Marshall, Calloway, and 
Graves Counties. I immediately visited and preached in all those 
counties, secured colporteurs sent them Bibles, and made full ar- 
rangements to have them thoroughly explored and supplied. I 
have already ordered more than fifteen hundred dollars' worth of 
books for this Society, and the good work has progressed most en- 
couragingly. One of the distributors reports : "I have been labor- 
ing in one part of the most destitute portion of the county. The 
part of which I speak is a slope in the northeast corner of the 
county, embracing, perhaps, a hundred families. In this whole 
slope there can scarcely be said to be any church. Most of the 
people are uneducated, there having been no schools. I one day 
visited seventeen families, nine of whom had no Bible, and several 
of whom had no book of any kind in their houses." 

It is impossible to give to any one who has not a personal 
knowledge of the country thus visited any adequate conception of 
the good accomplished by these labors. Less than half the county 
has been explored, but I have made arrangements with Father 
Gregory, the distributor, to continue the work until every family 
has been visited and all the destitute supplied. 

After completing my work in these counties I went to Colum- 
bus, Kentucky. Here I found a very noble work had been accom- 
plished. I have ordered for them during the year more than seven 
hundred dollars' worth of Bibles. I next visited Hickman, Fulton 
County. The society that I organized there last year has not been 
able to secure a colporteur, but hope soon to make arrangements to 
have their county supplied. I have already ordered about twenty- 
five hundred dollars' worth of Bibles for the "Purchase," and more 
than one thousand dollars' worth more will be needed to complete 
the work that is in such successful progress. The friends of the 
cause in all these counties are astonished and delighted at what has 
been accomplished already, and the bright prospects for the future. 
Lau8 Deo. Your brother in Christ, H. W. Pieeson, 

Agent of the American Bible Society. 



314 IJ^ TEE BRUSH. 

Bible House, Astor Place, New York, July 15, 1858. 
Kev. H. W. PiERSON. 

My deae Beotiiee : 1 have just received yours of the 9th in- 
stant, giving an account of your visit to the seven counties lying 
west of the Tennessee River, and known as " Jackson's Purchase," 
where you have the satisfaction of observing decided and gratifying 
progress in the good work of Bible distribution during the past 
year. In reading your report of what has been accomplished, I was 
almost as much "delighted" as you could have been in seeing 
with your own eyes the progress of the good work. 

And, now, can you reconcile it to your own heart and conscience 
to abandon such a field and such a work ? I confess I do not see 
how you can, and I hope to receive very soon your ultimate deci- 
sion declining the call to the college at Princeton. Did you receive 
my last at Louisville? Since writing it I have had a letter from 
our friend Rev. W. F. Talbot, of Columbus, Kentucky, protesting 
against y our lyeing allowed to leave the Bible worh^ and urging us to 
do all in our power to retain you. I answered him that I hoped 
you would not be tempted to leave us by any considerations other 
than those of clear and imperative duty ; and, as your own mind 
had not been fully made up when you last wrote, I thought it most 
likely that you would continue in the Agency. 

Now, let me again, in behalf of our committee, in behalf of the 
great work now in progress in that field, and in behalf of the future 
interests of the Bible cause there, protest against your desertion ! 
Think of the many friends whom you have gained for yourself per- 
sonally, while you were securing their affections and cooperation 
for the Bible Society, who will be in great danger of falhng back 
into their former indifference and inactivity, should they lose 
your active support. In fact, I do not see how we can let you 
go ! If you do go, it will be in the face of our remonstrances, 
and those of every friend of the cause in your field. Please let us 
hear from you at your earliest convenience. 

Cordially yours, 

James H. McNeill, 
Corresponding Secretary of the American Bible Society. 



WOBK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 315 

IN'otwithstanding the earnestness of these entreaties, 
I felt compelled to retire from this work. No one could 
appreciate its importance more highly than, from my 
personal knowledge of its needs, I did. But for more 
than ten years since my graduation from the theologi- 
cal seminary, I had been constantly " on the wing." As 
stated in my oj)ening chapter, I had spent five years 
as an invalid wanderer. I had roamed over tlie 
Southern States nearly a year, had made two visits to 
the Island of Hayti, and spent a second winter in the 
South. I had then entered upon these itinerant labors, 
in w^hich I had spent nearly five years more. I was 
not weary of the work, but I wanted change ; I sighed 
for rest and an opportunity to study — to commune 
again with my beloved books that had remained un- 
opened during all these years. In addition to these 
personal desires, my labors had revealed the impera- 
tive demand for the liberal education of as many as 
possible of the young men in the wide region I had 
so thoroughly explored ; and a large number of my 
"many friends" had signified to me their strong de- 
sire to place their sons in the college should I accept 
the appointment. I therefore wrote my resignation, as 
follows : 

Louisville, Kentucky, Juhj 12, 1858. 
Rev. James H. Mc^^Teill, Secretary of the American Bible Society^ 
New TorTc. 
My dear Brother: I have already informed you that I had 
been elected President and Professor of Mental and Moral Philoso- 
phy in Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky. 



316 IN THE BRUSH. 

After mature and prayerful consideration of the whole subject, 
I have decided to accept the appointment ; and I therefore resign 
my commission as Agent of the American Bible Society for West- 
ern Kentucky. 

It is not without deep emotion that I thus sunder my official 
connection with this noble institution. For nearly five years I have 
labored to promote its interests, and during this entire period all my 
correspondence and intercourse with its difierent officers has been 
of the most pleasant character. I can not recall a single Avord or 
act that has marred the harmony of our relations. 

The field assigned me is very large — with meager facilities for 
traveling — and on this account my duties have been very laborious. 
I have again and again ridden on liorsebacTc over all the counties 
southward from this city to the Tennessee line, and westward to the 
Mississippi Kiver. I have preached repeatedly in all of them, 
solicited donations, secured colporteurs, ordered Bibles for them, 
and made full arrangements to have all the families visited, and 
every destitute household supplied with the inestimable Word by 
sale or gift. I have thus ridden thousands of miles over the 
roughest roads, exposed to every variety of weather. 

But, though laborious and self-denying, I have found this a 
blessed service — rich in physical as well as spiritual rewards. Com- 
mencing with lungs diseased, and a body enfeebled by years of ill 
health, I have rejoiced in an almost constant sense of returning 
strength and vigor, up to the present moment — until now there are 
few that can endure more physical toil than I can. 

My numerous reports have furnished abundant yet very inade- 
quate evidences of the rich spiritual rewards that have crowned 
these efi"orts to scatter the "good seed" of the Word. Again and 
again the sower and the reaper have rejoiced together. Hundreds 
and thousands of families, that were living without the sacred vol- 
ume, are now rejoicing in its blessed light ; and other multitudes 
that are still destitute will soon receive the heavenly boon. And 
God's blessing will surely attend his own Word. "For as the snow 
cometh down, and the rain from heaven," etc, etc. 

Be assured, my dear brother, I shall ever cherish a profound and 
lively interest in the operations of the American Bible Society. 
Though Providence seems to call me to another sphere of duty, I 



WOEK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 31T 

shall ever rejoice to do all in my power to promote its interests. I shall 
ever cherish the most pleasant recollections of my connection with 
it, and especially of my correspondence and associations with you. 
Praying that God may richly bless you, and all its oflScers, 
agents, and friends, I remain 

Yours in the best of bonds, 

H. W. PlERSOX. 

Ill the following October I mounted my horse at 
Princeton, Kentucky, and rode to Hopkinsville to at- 
tend the Louisville Annual Conference, as I had regu- 
larly done so many years before. In a copy of the 
" Hopkinsville Mercury," October 20, 1858, now before 
me, I find the following notice of my address, and the 
action of the Conference upon that occasion : 

The Rev. H. W. Pierson, of the Presbyterian Church, having 
labored for a number of years, with eminent success in this State, 
as an agent of the American Bible Society, appeared in Conference 
on Tuesday morning and announced that he had resigned the oflBce 
in the discharge of which he had made the acquaintance of nearly 
all the Methodist ministers in Kentucky, as well as those of other 
churches. His remarks, in which he expressed the deep regret and 
pain with which he took this step, were very appropriate, simple, 
and touching, and were responded to in very handsome terms by 
Bishop Kavenaugh, and other members of the Conference. The 
following resolution was then unanimously adopted : 

Resolved^ That we express our high appreciation of the faithful- 
ness and efficiency of Rev. H. W. Pierson, A. M., as agent of the 
American Bible Society in Western Kentucky; that we most cor- 
dially reciprocate the feelings of brotherly love which he has this 
day expressed, and that we fervently pray the blessings of the great 
Head of the Church upon him, wherever his lot, in the providence 
of God, may be cast. 

A. Bkowx, 
Thomas Bottomly, 
R. Deaeinq. 



318 IN THE BRUSH. 

Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky, October 12, 1858. 
Rev. James H. McNeill, Secretary of the American Bible Society, 
New York. 
My dear Brother : . . . I have had a very pleasant time at 
Conference. The " Bible Committee " presented a most flattering 
resolution in regard to my agency labors. I made the Conference a 
valedictory address, and the Bishop and others responded to it in 
the kindest manner. Another resolution, commending my labors, 
etc., was then offered, and the members were requested to vote upon 
it by rising, when the whole Conference arose to their feet. I could 
but be deeply moved by their expressions of kindness, and many 
tears were shed by them. I confess I am amazed and astounded at 
the kind words I have received on every hand. I had no idea that 
my labors had made such an impression upon the public mind. To 
God be all the praise ! 

Yours, as ever, 

H. W. PlERSON. 



CONCLUSION OF BIBLE WORK. 

To see what I have seen, and to know what I 
have known, of the good accomplished by my labors, 
have been abundant compensation for all my travels 
and for all my toils; and I await, with bright and 
happy anticipations, the fuller revelations and rewards 
of a blissful eternity. 

LABORS FOR THE COLLEGE. 

I entered upon my duties as President of Cumber- 
land College, at Princeton, Kentucky, the second Mon- 
day in September, 1858. Of the commencement of 
my labors there I wrote as follows : 



WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. Zl% 

Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky, October 12, 1858. 
Rev. James H. McNeill, Secretary of the American Bible Society^ 
New YorTc. 
My dear Brother : I have been very anxious to write you ever 
since I reached here, but have been so very busy that I could not 
get the time. I have had a great deal to do here in the commence- 
ment of my duties, and then I have been absent every Sabbath, and 
a portion of each week, attending presbyteries, synods, etc., to pro- 
mote the interests of the college. Its friends are very sanguine in 
regard to its prospects. They think they have not been as good for 
many years. All the religious bodies that I have visited, the news- 
papers, and the public at large, seem interested in my success, and 
are doing all that they can for the college. I hope that I may do a 
great deal of good in this work. 

Yours as ever, 

H. W. PlERSOlf. 



Mj labors here until 1861 were not less exhausting 
than they had been since I entered upon my Bible work 
in 1853. In addition to my duties in the college, I 
traveled extensively, ^' electioneering " for students, as 
was the custom in that region. Their numbers increased 
to such an extent that we needed an additional building. 
I appealed to the people of the village and the county, 
and they responded most nobly by subscribing twenty 
thousand dollars, and erecting a college edifice, with a 
large assembly hall, library, recitation and all other 
needed rooms. I had the pleasure of taking my es- 
teemed friend, the Right Rev. B. B. Smith, D. D., 
Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Kentucky, 
through the building, on one of his annual parochial 
visits to the village, and he pronounced it the most 



320 J^ THE BRUSH. 

perfect and beautiful specimen of architecture in tlie 
State. 

The attack on Fort Sumter, and the events that fol- 
lowed it, compelled the suspension of this, as they did of 
nearly or quite every other college in the Southwest and 
South, and terminated my labors there. Wishing to en- 
p-ao-e in similar educational work elsewhere, I asked for 
testimonials from a few of my friends, including Bishop 
Smith. He kindly gave the following, with which, as I 
at that time terminated my labors in the State, I will 
close this very personal volume, descriptive of my always 
pleasantly and gratefully remembered life and labors in 
the Southwest : 

Louisville, Kentucky, September 10, 1861. 

... I first knew Dr. Pierson (then Mr. Pierson) when acting 
as Bible agent in the waste places of Kentucky, and our hearts were 
strongly drawn toward each other in consequence of our having 
been " companions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience 
of Jesus Christ " — I having labored and suffered in behalf of the 
same class of persons as Superintendent of Public Instruction, trav- 
eling for the greater part of two years over the roughest portions 
of Kentucky. To elevate our fellow-creatures so that they can read 
the Bible for themselves, and then to give to all such a Bible in 
their own tongues, is a noble work, and great suffering may well 
be cheerfully endured in the prosecution of it. 

His exertions in behalf of the college at Princeton have attracted 
more of my attention, and elicited my most cordial admiration, be- 
yond anything of the kind in this State for thirty years. The diffi- 
culties to be overcome were of no common kind, and the means at 
his disposal very limited ; the skill with which he met the one, and 
the wisdom and energy with which he drew forth the other, have 
rarely been exceeded. And I have it from the lips of the most in- 
telligent persons in the village, during my periodical visits, that no 



WOEK ACCOMPLISHED IN THE SOUTHWEST. 321 

person they ever knew could have awakened equal enthusiasm in so 
good a cause. For myself, I should have looked upon the task of 
raising half the sum of twenty thousand dollars in such a village, 
for such a purpose, as altogether impracticable ; and yet Dr. Pier- 
son seemed to succeed with perfect ease. 

The teaching he was, of course, obliged to devolve in great meas- 
ure upon others. But it has come to my knowledge that he was 
considered the animating spirit of the whole concern. And it is 
only necessary to converse with him, from time to time, to become 
impressed with a sense of his literary attainments, fine taste, genial 
nature, and earnest, unaffected piety. 

His loss to the college,' should he leave it, will be irreparable, 
and long will it be before his place will be made good to the general 
cause of education in the Commonwealth, and in the esteem and 
affection of 

His and your friend, etc., 

B. B. Smith. 



THE END. 



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HOMILETICAL INDEX: 

A HAND-BOOK OF 

Texts, Themes, and Authors, for the Use of Preach- 
ers, and Bible Scholars generally. 

Embracing Twenty Thousand Citations of Scripture Texts, and of Discmirses 
founded thereon, under a Twofold Arrangement. 

I. Textual. II. Topical. 
In which all the Principal Texts In which Bible Themes, with ref- 
of Scripture, together with the vari- erence to Texts and Authors, are 
ous Themes they have suggested, classified and arranged in Alphabet- 
are quoted and set forth in the order ical Order, forming at once a Key to 
of the Sacred Canon, from Genesis Homiletical Literature in general, 
to Revelation ; to which is added a and a complete Topical Index of the 
list of Passages cited from the Old Scriptures on a New Plan. "With 
Testament in the New. valuable Appendices. 

By J, H. Pettingell, A. M. 

With an Introduction by GEOEGE E. DAY, D. D., Professor of Biblical 
Theology, Yale College. 

1 vol., 8vo, cloth, $3.00 ; the satne, interleaved, cloth, $4.00. 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS OF 500 SERMONS. 

By the author of " The Pulpit Cyclopnedia." 1 vol., 8vo. Cloth, 
$2.50. 

PULPIT CYCLOPAEDIA AND MINISTER'S COMPANION. 

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BURNS'S CYCLOPAEDIA OF SERMONS. 

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CRITICAL, EXPLANATORY, and PRACTICAL NOTES ON THE 
OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. 

Designed for the Use of Pastors and People. By Henry Cowles, 
D. D. Complete in 16 volumes, 12mo, uniformly bound in cloth. 
Price for the complete work, $25.00; or separate volumes maybe 
had at the regular catalogue price. 

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EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE PRIMERS. 

Edited by Professor GEORGE P. EISHER, D. D. 



These Primers will embody, in a few small and inexpensive volumes, 
the substance of the characteristic works of the great Fathers of the 
Church. The plan recognizes four groups of works : 

1. The Apostolic Fathers and the Apologrists of the Second 

Century, a. d. 93-180. 

2. The Fathers of the Third Century, a. d. 180-325. 

3. The Post-Nicene Greek Fathers, a. d. 325-750. 

4. The Post-Nicene Latin Fathers, a. d. 325-590. 

NOW READY : 

The Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists of the 
Second Century. 

By Rev. GEORGE A. JACKSON. 
One volume, 18mo, price, cloth, 60 cents. 
Contents: Introduction— The Earlier Patristic Writings— The Apostolic 
Fathers— Clement of Rome— Sketch, Epistle to Corinthians, and Clementine 
Literature ; Ignatius— Sketch, and Epistle to Romans, Ephesians, and Polycarp ; 
Polycarp— Sketch, and Epistle to Philippians; Barnabas— Sketch, and Epistle. 
Associated Authors. Hermas —Sketch, and the Shepherd ; Papias— Sketch, and 
Fragments. 

The Apologists.— Introductory Sketch— Notice, and Epistle to Diognetus ; 
Justin— Sketch, First Apology, and Synopsis of Dialogue with Trypho; Author 
of Muratorian Fragment, and the Fragment; Melito— Sketch, and Fragment; 
Athenagoras— Sketch, Chapters from Mission about Christians, and Final Argu- 
ment on the Resurrection. 

"Judging from this opening volume, we heartily recommend the series." — New 
York Independent. 

II. 

The Fathers of the Third Century. 

By Rev. GEORGE A, JACKSON. 
One volume, 18mo, price, cloth, 60 cents. 
Contents; Progress of Christianity in the Third Century; Greek Writers : 
Introduction— Irenaeus, Sketch of Life and Summaries of Works, with Extracts 
— Hippolytus, rfo.— Clement of Alexandria, c?o — Origen, c?o.— Gregory Thauma- 
turgus, rfo.— The other Greek Writers ; Latin Writers : Introduction— Tertul- 
lian. Sketch, Summaries, and Extracts— Cyprian, do.— The other Latin Writers. 

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tury in the English language." — Christian at Woj'k. 

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The Old Testament 

IN THE JEWISH CHURCH : 

Twelve Lectures on Biblical Criticism, with Notes. By W. Robertson 
Smith, M. A., Recently Professor of Hebrew and Exegesis of the 
Old Testament, Free Church College, Aberdeen. 1 vol., 12mo. 
Cloth, .$1.75. 

" Professor Robertson Smith's book is exactly what was wanted at once to 
inform and to stimuhite. Written by one of the first Semitic scholars of our time, 
it is completely abreast of the most recent investigations, and pervaded by a 
thoroughly scholar-like spirit. His easy mastery of the subject ar.d his sense of 
which are the really difficult points and which the settled ones are apparent on 
every page. What is more surprising is the skill wherewith these resources are 
used. Although scientific in the sense of being thorough, exact, and business- 
like, the book is also popular— that is to say, it is perlectly intelligible to every 
person of fair genei-al education who has read the Bible. For clearness of state- 
ment, for cogency of argument, for breadth of view, for impartiality of tone, for 
the judgment with which details are subordinated to the most interesting and 
instructive principles and facts, it is a model of how a great and difficult subject 
should be presented to the world." —Pall Mall Gazette. 

"Speaking after mature deliberation, we pronounce Professor Robertson 
Smith's book on Biblical Science one of the most important works that has ap- 
peared in our time. It justifies, in a convinci ng and conclusive manner, what we 
have from first to last maintained regarding him— namely, that he was engaged 
in an enterprise auspicious to the Christian Church; that he was not assailing the 
faith, but fortifying it. He has not abandoned one jot or one tittle of his princi- 
ples, but he now for the first time states them comprehensively, and points out 
their natural and logical applications."— The Christian World (London). 

" In his studies the author has made a careful use of the studies of the great 
critics of England and Germany. But his work is marked by a spirit of intrepid 
independence and an individuality which refuses to surrender at discretion to 
anybody. He refuses to be lifted from his feet on the solid rock of Christian 
faith, by any passing wave of skepticism. As an introdnction to the Old Testa- 
ment for the use of teachers, and a vigorous, scholarly statement of the principles 
and results of conservative Biblical criticism, as related to the Old Testament, 
these lectures will be found specially serviceable and interesting. And tliey are 
certainly remarkable as an indication of a liberal movement in the Scottish 
Church."— A^ew Yo7'k Eoening Express. 

" Heresy is a difficult charge to prove nowadays, and when proved to the sat- 
isfaction of the religious court seems to advance a man's reputation rather than 
injure it. Here is Professor Robertson Smith, who was found too heretical to 
be allowed to address the students at Aberdeen, Scotland, on the Hebrew lan- 
guage and literature, who is received in the larger world with something of the 
prestige of a martyr. Influential laymen, both in Edinburgh and Glasgow, have 
requested him to deliver in both cities a course of lectures on the present state of 
Biblical criticism. These lectures have now been delivered, and are published 
not only in England, but in this country also." -A^ew York Times. 

" How far Professor Smith's conclusions may coincide with those of our own 
best Biblical scholars we shall not undertake to say, but his work is so able and 
accurate, so scholarly and devout, that it will be read with interest by American 
clergymen and students, and will stimulate all who read it to make further re- 
searches in the same field."— yVte Christian-at-Wo7'k. 



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